


Legacy Prompts 2 [Femslash February]

by hearden



Series: Legacy of Power [14]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Samurai
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-03-21 17:25:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 22,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13745769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearden/pseuds/hearden
Summary: A collection of Femslash February inspired, Lauren Shiba-focused prompts, set exclusively in the Legacy verse.





	1. you're the closest to heaven that i'll ever be // lauren/mia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UnicornAffair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/gifts).



> "ryan u never even finished ur pride prompts or ur inktober prompts from last year" shhhhhhhhhhhh
> 
> i love lauren shiba and it's feb 20th and i've decided right now at 1am that i'm gonna try to dump ten gallons of love on her right now even tho i'm like three weeks late for femslash february prompt-ing
> 
> challenge source: https://femslashfeb.tumblr.com/post/169486708676/
> 
> all prompts, unless specified in the notes, are considered canon
> 
> chapter titles follow this format:  
> [title] // [pov character] - in this case, lauren for the entirety of this series  
> [title] // [pov/name] indicates a ship-focused prompt  
> [title] // [pov & name] indicates a platonic ship-focused prompt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren first dwells on her feelings for Mia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day one: attractive
> 
> set during super samurai s1e18 "evil reborn", which is roughly spring 2012

The thing about Lauren is that, in all of her life, she's never been left to dwell on her thoughts. Growing up in isolation meant that she had a lot of time _alone,_ yes, but most of it was on a schedule. Wake up, eat, train, study, eat, study, train, eat, rest, sleep. The way routine had dictated her life, Lauren had automatically gravitated to using her "rest" time as her reading time. She read for fun, but fun always ended up being something else she wanted to explore -- a subject she hadn't covered yet or going over something she already had -- instead of whatever she'd gone over earlier in the day. Learning was how she spent her downtime.

When she has downtime in the Shiba house, though, in the midst of the agony of waiting for another Nighlok attack, she defaults to training. If she keeps herself busy, helping around the house or training -- no matter with the others or alone, then she doesn't have to think. Lauren has become good at that -- moving, doing, acting without pausing to think. If she had stopped during any of those twenty years that she spent in hiding, then she wouldn't have made it this far.

Being around Jayden's team -- because it's not hers as it's becoming transparently obvious -- gives her too many opportunities to think. Jayden's friends say things, things that her brain latches onto because there's nothing else _to_ latch onto.

Mike asks her what she does for fun, if she goes to the movies or goes dancing.

Lauren doesn't pause between bites of her lunch, letting the answer slip out easily from her lips. "I train," she says, casually, but that night when the others are out looking for Jayden, she drags herself to the showers after a late workout and _really_ thinks about it.

The water washes away the sweat on her skin and the ache of her muscles, but it brings with it something else. Her thoughts flicker, briefly, to Mia, to how Mia had welcomed her softly, gently, without the noise that Lauren had come to prepare herself from the others. Everyone else asked questions; it wasn't their intention to be overwhelming, she's sure, but she does find it just a little bit uncomfortable. Humans are curious, though, so Lauren sits up straighter and answers every question they have about her life in solitary. Mia, however, doesn't pry. She just smiles and waits, listens when Lauren speaks, but never really has questions of her own. It's a nice change, a warm welcome.

Turning the shower head off, even though she hasn't finished washing up, Lauren lets her body soak in the steam and leans her head against the wall, taking slow, deep breaths. She knows what this is -- had read enough about all sorts of things to know what _this_ is. Psychologically, she had studied how emotions develop between people brought in close proximity to each other, united by common cause, how it's easy to find someone superficially attractive without _really_ being interested them as a person. It'd been something she had been told was a possibility, especially as a Ranger with teammates, but back then, Lauren hadn't given it much thought.

But, now, the reality is a stark contrast to the books she'd spent her teen years consuming. The smallest sliver of kindness Mia shows her -- a hand on her shoulder, a smile in her direction at lunch or dinner, their eyes meeting during training as their staffs clack together -- Lauren knows that they're straws that she's grasping at. The team is, truly, the first group of people she's… _lived_ with besides her previous instructors while in hiding. Lauren wasn't a stranger to the outside, of course, to civilization, but her time outside was always monitored so closely in case the Nighlok were ever to find out about her existence, so it wasn't as if she spent much time purposefully interacting with strangers.

Her discovery had been quiet, silent. Lauren watched movies and TV shows, of course, mostly older ones from decades ago and still on a DVD player, sometimes a VHS because that was what was still around when she went into hiding. She hadn't figured it out through watching beautiful actresses on the silver screen, but rather through her readings, especially Greek poetry.

Patroclus in his devoted loyalty laying his life down for Achilles struck a chord in her that she couldn't quite put into words. After she read of Apollo's grief for Hyacinth, Lauren went to her mentor and simply requested he, if possible, bring her back a hyacinth plant the next time he sent for groceries and such. Lauren had cradled the small pot with the plant and its almost ethereal petals in her hands that night, something stirring in her chest, mournful but warm, and if she concentrated hard enough, she could pretend like her tears were for someone in particular that she hadn't found yet, much like Apollo's were for his lover.

Lauren doesn't ask herself, now, in the moment, if it's real. She has nothing from before to even compare the thoughts and emotions in her head to, much less know what counts as real and _not_ real. And, in that, she has her answer as to what she's meant to do with this realization, this first brush with kindness and warmth and openness. By Sappho, she is awed by Mia's splendor, a modern Aphrodite in her presence, but she doesn't dare ask for all of her heart's desires to be given.

Clenching her jaw, Lauren turns the shower head back on and resumes threading her fingers through her hair, shaking those thoughts off of her shoulders. Now is not the time to be dwelling on such unimportant things that aren't the focus of her duty here. Not to also consider the fact that the last time she thought she got something she desired, this reality where she's lonelier, even when surrounded by a team, hurts more than her dreams could have anticipated her for.

For now, she has a duty to fulfill, and when it's over, then can her soul have its rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Iris - Kina Grannis (Goo Goo Dolls cover)


	2. the sorrow breaking both my shoulders // lauren & kimberly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Running comes naturally to Lauren as it always has.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day two: fear
> 
> set in november 2013, concurrently with "oh my love, oh my love" and "maybe your light is a seed", during the events of super megaforce

Lauren digs her fingers into her scalp, her nails pressing but not breaking her skin. The trunk of the tree she's leaning against has scraped against her back already, prickly and irritating, but she doesn't quite care. She tries not to think about _it,_ about Mia, back at the party, wondering while she is wandering. Her phone is on silent; she'd remembered to turn off the ringer as she was storming out of the Hartford Mansion, and Lauren knows that if she checks, she'd probably have a missed call or two or many from someone -- if not Mia, then one of the other Samurai Rangers, out of concern and care, yes, but Lauren just…

A light breeze brings the unmistakable scent of someone's perfume, soft vanilla and sweet strawberry, and Lauren looks up, instantly, knowing that it's Kimberly. She catches the other woman right in her tracks, a short silhouette some ways away, trying desperately to be quiet. A leaf crunches under Kimberly's foot, and Lauren sighs. "I wanna be alone," she calls out, projecting her voice as loudly as she can futilely manage right now.

Kimberly's silhouette pauses for a moment. Lauren can see her wringing her hands together in the moonlight. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Kimberly finally responds, uncertainly.

"I'm-- I'm fine," she says, unconvincing even to herself, and her stomach turns.

"Alright, well, can I sit with you?"

"Do you have to?" Lauren asks, knowing right when the words leave her mouth that they sound snappy, "Sorry." However, she doesn't answer Kimberly's question.

It all works out, though, because Kimberly takes it upon herself to keep walking, her footsteps sounding out every time her feet touch the grass, until she reaches Lauren then sighs and sits down in front of her, crossing her legs.

Lauren peers at her. "You're not very quiet for a ninja," she remarks, dryly.

Kimberly chuckles and runs a hand through her hair, shaking her head, amusedly, "I haven't been a ninja in a _long_ time."

"You don't stop being a ninja," Lauren recites, automatically, because she will never stop being a samurai -- that kind of training, upbringing, it sticks around forever.

Raising her eyebrows, Kimberly glances down at her clothes and frowns, just slightly, but it's gone before Lauren can analyze it, "Kinda like how you don't stop being a Power Ranger, right?" Her tone hides something, something that Lauren can't quite pick apart, but she can easily tell that it's meant to be a sarcastic jab.

"Exactly like how you don't stop being a Power Ranger," Lauren replies, fully serious.

Kimberly tilts her head at her. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she asks, softly.

"Being a Ranger?"

"Why you're out here, alone."

Lauren lets her head thump back against the tree trunk, and a harsh sigh rips itself from her throat. "No," she mutters, plain and simple. She closes her eyes and sees it in her mind's eye -- seeing the mistletoe that'd been hanging over her own head, taking in Mia's patience as she waited for Lauren to make the first move because she always was, and leaning down to capture the other girl's lips in a kiss.

The image disappears as quickly as it'd come -- she doesn't know what a real kiss would be like, anyway.

"I think I'm gonna go home," she declares, rubbing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Kimberly nods in understanding, "Okay." She glances at the mansion, the sounds of loud music and partying faintly drifting out to them, "Are you gonna get your stuff?"

Lauren thinks about it. She _could_ teleport in since her Samuraizer is in her pocket as it always is, but she doesn't want to risk teleporting into the guest room she's sharing with Jayden's team and having someone walk in while she's grabbing her things to leave. "I don't know," she mumbles.

Standing up, Kimberly brushes some dirt off of her jeans and looks down at her, "I can get your things. You just had that one suitcase, right? Red with wheels?"

Lauren mutely nods.

"Thank you," she remembers to say, quietly, as Kimberly is walking away.

Almost half an hour later, during which Lauren quickly figures out that she doesn't have anything to preoccupy her thoughts with and her phone almost burns a hole in her pocket the more she thinks about it but she doesn't _dare_ take it out, Kimberly finally returns with her little suitcase in tow.

Lauren slowly gets to her feet, using the tree for support in case her knees abruptly give out, and she takes the suitcase with a nod, "Thanks,"

"No problem," Kimberly says then clears her throat, "Jayden and Mia asked if you were okay."

Her stomach churns, and she frowns, "Tell them I'm fine. I just need… some time alone. I need to go home." Lauren pulls her Samuraizer out, preparing herself to teleport. "You might want to step back a little," she adds as an afterthought.

Kimberly does so, watching as Lauren activates her Samuraizer and holds the brush tip up in the air, starting on the teleport kanji. "Where _is_ home?" she asks, curiously.

Lauren pauses, her hand wavering. She swallows then quickly draws the kanji in the air, the red glow illuminating Kimberly's features as she pours her symbol power into it. "I don't know," she answers, truthfully, before finishing the kanji off. Blood roars in her ears as the scenery around her jarringly shifts, and when the smoke clears, she is alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Edge of Eden - Jake Scott


	3. i've imagined her smile since i was a child // lauren & preston

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps her childhood can be rebuilt, piece by piece.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day three: carousel
> 
> takes place in december 2013, during the events of super megaforce

There is a boy at the carnival who asks Lauren to pick a card, any card, but her cards have always been picked for her. She looks at him. What she can see of his white button-up collar is neatly pressed, hiding underneath a dark blue sweater vest, and his khaki pants are the perfect fit for his body. He's a teenager with a distinctly young face, but she can't guess how old he actually is due to the fact that he towers over her. His clothes aren't the clothes of a show magician, so Lauren assumes he's, oddly, not actually part of the carnival. Which brings up some questions.

"Do you have a booth?" she asks, raising her eyebrows at him, and he stiffens, nervously shifting from foot to foot.

"Well, uh," he collapses the fan of cards he'd been offering her and drops his hands by his sides, rubbing his neck with his free hand, "No."

Her presence is taller than his. She tilts her head, feigning confusion even though she's already worked out that he doesn't belong, "You don't work here?"

"No," he admits, sheepishly, "I'm just… hanging out."

"Why?"

"I wanna practice my magic," he says.

Lauren glances at the railing he stands in front of, at the carousel making its rounds behind him, lively music and the shouts of children filling the air. "Here? Next to a big attraction?"

He motions his deck of cards at the line of people still waiting for their turn and more who keep filing in as others leave, "I planned on catching people in line while they wait. It seemed like a good idea."

She shrugs, "It  _ is _ a good idea."

"Yeah," the boy frowns, his dark bangs falling into his eyes as he turns his head to glance at the line of carousel-goers, "But nobody wants to see my magic."

"I wanna see your magic," she says, seriously, nodding slightly when he looks at her, hopeful, his eyes brightening. The enthusiasm in his eyes reminds her a bit of Antonio, but she lets that thought slide because she's spending the day away from the apartment on the pretense that she's out looking for a job. Which she clearly isn't.

"Okay, um," he holds out his finger at her and puffs his chest up, asking in a faux-performer voice that wavers slightly, "First, what's your name?"

"Lauren," she answers with a brief chuckle.

"Lauren, do you believe in magic?" When she raises her eyebrows, he  _ tsks _ at her, "You have to believe in magic for this to work."

She thinks about the magic flowing in her veins, the symbol power that could set fire to cities, but never to her demons. Yes, she does believe in magic, but it's probably not the kind he's thinking about. "Yeah," she says, nodding, "I believe in magic."

"Okay, good," the boy smiles and fans out his deck of cards, holding it out to her, "Now, pick a card, any card."

Lauren isn't in control of her destiny, but she reaches out and picks a card from the middle-ish right, holding it to her chest and making sure he doesn't see it. She peeks: Ace of hearts. Fitting. Slipping the card back into a different point in the deck, Lauren watches as the boy shuffles, struggling a little bit. She can tell there's a few seconds where he almost drops the entire deck but manages to not, but she just stands there and stays patient.

When the boy is done shuffling, he pulls a magic wand out of his back pocket, grinning at her, "Presto change-o!" He twirls the wand fancily in the air then taps the top of the deck and sticks the wand back in his pocket. "I've made your card move all the way to the top of the deck," he declares, proudly, and she gives a small smile at his rising confidence.

"Oh, really?"

"Really," he nods, assuredly, then shows the top card at her -- a seven of clubs, "Is  _ this _ your card?"

Lauren stares at the card for a long moment, unsure of what to tell him. She values honesty, but the way his eyes search her face for an answer, for the disappointment that she's sure he's prepared himself for, she doesn't have the heart to break his. "Yes," Lauren says, finally, giving him her brightest smile, "That's my card. The seven of clubs."

"Oh, okay--" he starts, his face falling, but then his brain catches up with her words, and he blinks, "Wait,  _ really? _ "

She laughs, shaking her head, "Yes,  _ really. _ "

He gapes at her then gapes at the card in his hand and actually  _ jumps, _ letting out a whoop of joy that attracts annoyed glances from the some of the people in line for the carousel. "Yeah! Oh, man! You don't know how happy that makes me," the boy exclaims, and Lauren decides that it was a good thing to tell him a lie. Sometimes, that's what it takes.

"I just… haven't been feeling the magic lately, you know?" he continues, "But… wow. This makes me  _ so _ happy."

His excitement is contagious, and Lauren isn't heartless. She won't deny someone else happiness. She smiles fondly at him then nods at the carousel, "I've got a question for you."

"Yeah?" he shuffles his cards around in his hands, his movement slightly easier now, "What's up?"

"I'm not sure if I wanna go on the carousel…" she says, slowly.

"Oh, yeah, I thought I saw you pass by a couple of times earlier."

"Mhm," Lauren nods then clears her throat, hesitantly, "Here's the thing, though. I've, um, never  _ been _ on a carousel, exactly." She gestures to herself, "And, I'm not really the type of person to be going on those things."

The boy furrows his brow then looks at the line of people, mostly parents with their much younger kids, "Well, I don't think you're ever too old to try something out. Like magic. You're never too old to believe in magic." He smiles at that, "You  _ want _ to go, right?"

"I… I guess, yeah."

Stopping his shuffling, he puts his deck of cards into a little box that he pulls out one of his pockets, "What if I went with you?"

"I'm not scared," Lauren says, hastily, just wanting to make sure that he knows that she isn't afraid of a  _ carousel _ of all things.

"I never said you were," the boy reassures her with a gentle smile, "Carousels are more fun when you have someone to go with. Come on."

She follows him into the line and as they wait, he chats with her about his life. He's more prone to opening up than she is, so she lets him do most of the talking. The holidays are coming up, so everyone is spending some time at the winter carnival. The boy tells her that he's off on break for school, but when she asks about if he's here with friends, he ducks his head and mumbles his denial. Fully understanding, Lauren falls silent and doesn't touch the subject any more.

He asks about her, and she makes up a story about traveling, seeing the world, which isn't all too far off, really.

"It's kinda ironic," the boy asks, chuckling, "Don't you think? You're seeing Summer Cove for the first time, but it's winter."

Lauren rolls her eyes.

When they get up to the front of the line and are let in, Lauren pauses, not knowing where to go, and looks to the boy for guidance. 

He gestures for her to step up to the carousel first, "Here, you pick an animal first or a chariot, if you want, and I'll sit next to you."

She steps up and walks around, looking at the different fantastical animals on display, ignoring the bustling kids that are excitedly running up to the carousel as well. Lauren stops at a griffin, running a hand along its plastic, painted, reddish-orange fur. It's not quite a full lion, but neither is she. "This one," she decides, hoisting herself into the saddle with ease.

The boy next to her nods, "Cool." There's a dark blue dragon to her right, and he chooses that one, climbing onto the saddle on its back and strapping himself in.

When the music starts, soft with a nostalgia that she never got to have, Lauren closes her eyes and leans her forehead against the rearing head of the griffin, counting her breaths. Maybe, had Xandred fallen to her father, she would've gotten to have this with Jayden and their dad. She wonders if Jayden had this with Ji, but she highly doubts it. The others, though, they would have. There's so many things, she thinks, so many things on a long list that she doesn't believe she'll ever get to the bottom of it all.

The carousel stops after minutes, and as Lauren gets off, she tries to read the boy's face to see if there's any sign that he minded that she'd been in her own world the entire ride, but he only gives her a bright smile.

"How was it?" he asks as they go out the exit gate, "Your first carousel ride?"

It's with a sad smile that Lauren glances at the ground, tapping a rock on the ground with the tip of her shoe, but she answers, "Good. It was good."

"I'm glad," the boy holds his hand out for her to shake, "I'm glad you had a good time. I should probably get going, but it was nice meeting you, uh--"

"Lauren," she gives his hand a firm shake, her shoulders lighter, if only by a fraction, than when she had gotten here.

"Nice meeting you, Lauren. I'm Preston."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Silhouettes & Sand - Jake Scott


	4. the more i'm gone, the more things change // lauren & jayden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jayden takes Lauren along for Christmas shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day four: lights
> 
> set during december 2013, during the events of super megaforce

When Christmas comes around, Jayden takes Lauren shopping. They go to Target -- their favorite store, naturally -- and Lauren wanders off as she normally does while Jayden browses the aisles for gifts for Antonio and the other Samurai Rangers. Lauren has gift ideas, too, but due to how many Christmases she  _ hasn't _ really experienced, she finds that she likes the idea of hand-making her gifts more than buying them. So, she grabs some craft and paint supplies and sticks them into Jayden's cart before following him to the Christmas section where decorations and gift wrap rolls pile up in the dozens.

Jayden nods at the cart, holding onto the handlebars, "Hey, get on. I'll push you."

Lauren furrows her brow, "Get… on?"

"Yeah, like, stand on the bar above the wheels and hold on. It's fun."

Reluctantly, she follows his directions and grips the cart tightly. "I'm not too heavy?" she asks.

Jayden pushes the cart forward a bit and shrugs, "Nah, you're good. We're strong, remember?"

"Mm," Lauren hums and glances over her shoulder as he starts heading for the Christmas section, "Just don't crash me into a shelf, okay?"

He chuckles, "No promises, sis." At some point, though, he relaxes and speeds the cart up, using their momentum to ride the rest of the way, and Lauren matches Jayden's laugh with one of her own, letting out a stern "Jayden!" every time he purposefully brings her back  _ way _ too close for comfort to the edge of an aisle. Other shoppers glance at them being awfully noisy as they make their way to the Christmas section, but Lauren doesn't care -- she's having fun.

Jayden takes the cart to the gift wrap and bag aisle, so Lauren paces around the surrounding aisles, not really looking for anything in particular. She honestly just likes looking at the colors -- red and gold and green and all the colors of the rainbow in all sorts of ornaments and wrapping paper and  _ lights. _ She had been absolutely delighted when the Panorama Zoo unveiled their zoo lights exhibit for the winter holidays, and Jayden had been nothing but happy to take her.

Lauren stops in the middle of an aisle, pausing to look at the boxes of string lights on display. There's all these sizes -- some for yard decorations, some for interior decorations. She touches a box of multi-colored lights, ten feet long, her fingers brushing against the packaging.

She hears Jayden before he speaks, the squeaking wheels of the shopping cart signalling his arrival. "You want those?"

Taking her hand away, Lauren glances at him and shakes her head, "Uh, no, no, I don't."

He raises his eyebrows, "Lauren…"

"You can… get them for me as a Christmas present," she says, nodding as if she's setting an agreement.

Jayden grabs the box and puts it in the cart but smirks at her, "I'm getting them  _ and _ your Christmas present."

"Jayden, no--" Lauren reaches to take the box back out of the cart, pouting, but he pushes himself off, riding the cart's momentum to the end of the aisle and is out of sight in seconds, rolling away and she's too unmotivated to give chase.

He ends up buying the lights for her, and she gives him the privacy of wandering around the store until he calls her and says he's done, especially since she knows that her  _ actual _ Christmas gift was probably hidden at the bottom of his cart, underneath the stuff for the other Rangers.

When they go home to the apartment, the first thing Lauren does is look through the grocery bags for her lights, but Jayden is a step ahead of her, presumably because  _ one _ of these bags has something she's not supposed to see, brandishing the box and offering it to her like, well, a gift.

She smiles as she takes it from him, holding it close to her chest, treasured. "Thank you," she says, softly.

"Anytime," he returns her smile, "You want me to help you put 'em up?"

Lauren nods without hesitation, "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Cool." Jayden goes to find some thumbtacks in his desk drawer, and Lauren retreats to her bedroom to map out how she wants the lights to look, taking them out of the box and tossing the box in her trash can. With Jayden's help, she climbs onto her bed that's shoved against a corner of the room and places the lights just slightly under the ceiling, framing her sleeping area. The end of the lights reach the outlet next to her desk without a problem. Lauren hops down, curling her toes against the carpeted floor, and plugs the lights in, stepping back into the doorframe to marvel in the sight.

Red and blue and yellow and pink and green, softly illuminating her room, brighter than any lamp, warmer in her heart.

Lauren leans over and gives Jayden a firm hug, resting her head on his chest. "Thanks, Jayden," she mumbles into his shirt.

She can sense his gentle smile as he kisses the top of her head, "Like I said, anytime."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Ring - Canyon City


	5. i've worn myself so thin coming home again // lauren, tori, & cam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren wonders if she could be more ninja than samurai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day five: pool
> 
> takes place in november 2012

There's a waterfall, loud and rushing but also soft and beautiful, and that is where Lauren finds herself, carrying nothing but the clothes she's wearing and a knapsack with a few extra changes of clothes and some snacks. The rest of her things are at Mia's apartment where she's decided to settle but not stay. Temporary is her time on this earth, and temporary, too, is her time in one place.

She knows _of_ this place and could easily announce her presence by pulling her phone out and sending a message through the busy Ranger Skype chat, but Lauren hardly touches it. Her relationships, which are already far and few between, are close things, personal things, and she owes nothing to dozens of Rangers that she doesn't know, has never met. They're all family, supposedly, but she doesn't feel as if they quite are just yet.

Lauren sits down at the edge of the lake that the waterfall flows into, crossing her legs, putting her hands on her knees, and waits, closing her eyes. But, even with her eyes closed, the roar of the waterfall can't hide the soft footsteps of someone behind her, approaching from her left. Lauren doesn't budge or stir as the person's footsteps come closer until they're right next to her.

"You know, you always could've called ahead and let us know you were coming." A woman's voice with a Northern Californian hint to it.

She opens her eyes and looks up, finding a blonde with blue eyes, dressed in a light blue hoodie and jeans smiling at her. Lauren shrugs. "I didn't _know_ I was coming," she says, simply.

The woman chuckles and walks away, stepping onto the lake without falling through. "You're Lauren, right? I'm Tori," she calls over her shoulder and motions for Lauren to follow her, "Come on."

Lauren stands and stares, "Uh…" She's not sure if she _can_ walk on water. That definitely wasn't something she really… trained for.

Tori turns around and laughs, shaking her head, "You can swim, right?"

"Of course, I can swim," Lauren mutters, frowning.

"Right," Tori grins, "I forgot that cats are afraid of water."

"I'm _not_ a cat." Technically, she's a lion, which, yes, is a cat, but she's also not.

Tori tilts her head, her eyes twinkling, "Come on, just step forward. You'll be fine, I promise."

Still, Lauren warily looks at the lake then narrows her eyes at Tori, "I'm not gonna fall through?"

"No, of course not," Tori holds up a hand and wiggles her fingers, "I'll make sure of that."

She doesn't know what Tori means by that, but she's heard about how the ninja academy here trains elementals so it _probably_ has something to do with that. Hesitantly, Lauren tests the waters with her right foot first, dipping the toe of her shoe into the lake, and immediately, a pressure pushes back on the sole of her shoe, solid like the ground, even when there is none. It's only her training that allows her to not scramble back and yelp in shock, but Lauren's heart jumps in her chest, anyway, even if she only visibly blinks in surprise. She glances at Tori uncertainly.

Tori motions for her to keep going, so she does, performing a large leap of faith and letting her left foot leave the ground entirely to step onto the water. More pressure meets her, forming a walkway as she takes unsteady, wary steps to where Tori is. There is no ground, of course, since Lauren can still feel the water steadily flowing underneath her shoes, but it's Tori, somehow, making sure that she doesn't fall right in and get soaked. Lauren doesn't know how Tori is doing it, but it must take a lot of precision and skill to anticipate and support every step that she's taking.

Finally, she comes right up to Tori, and the other woman smiles at her then turns to face the waterfall. Lauren can feel droplets of water landing on her skin and clothes, but somehow, most of the splash isn't hitting her. Must be something magical about that, too.

"Ready to see the Wind Ninja Academy?" Tori asks.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess," Lauren mumbles.

Tori chuckles and bumps her shoulder; Lauren struggles with every fiber of her being not to flinch away. "Don't worry," she says, reassuringly, "We have a samurai here, too."

 

-

 

Lauren had read about ninjas before during her time in hiding, about the culture and history of her ancestors. Ninjas had definitely been a topic she had learned about.

That they were different, at least.

And Lauren does have to admit that what she sees of the Wind Ninja Academy the moment she walks in is _vastly_ different from what she knows samurai training to be like. She can't say it's different from what she's used to because pretty much _everything_ is different than what she's used to. Their training uniforms -- black, tight, sleek, made for stealth and agility -- aren't quite that far of a cry from the training uniforms she's seen Jayden and his team wear, but they're definitely not the kimonos she grew up with. Even more so, Lauren notices as she walks with Tori and Tori chats away, giving her a tour of the academy, these ninjas are _quiet._

Their footsteps, their presence is quiet, contained, even as she sees students spar with each other, shouting and grunting. Tori walks beside her, but her footsteps, too, are somewhat muted, careful, light. Lauren knows without having to ask that, if Tori hadn't _wanted_ her to hear her in front of the waterfall, then she wouldn't have.

The other Samurai Rangers are quiet, too, and Lauren was trained to be, but this is different. Jayden and his team certainly didn't act like they're nobility, but when Lauren thinks about them and their presence, she thinks about royalty and honor and duty. They came from treasured bloodlines, raised to do one thing, cared for and molded to be warriors.

These ninjas, on the other hand, are not royalty. Of course, they're not mercenaries or spies, either, but ninjas used to be, and she can see it in their training and their movements. Lauren has to make herself actually look at Tori, at how her posture and presence is unassuming and soft. If she looks away, even if the memory doesn't actually fade, Lauren finds that Tori slips out of her mind.

She wonders how different her life would be if she had been raised by ninjas, instead, and if it would have made her feel more at ease on the inside.

 

-

 

Tori takes her down to some sort of underground lab where there's a computer and many monitors set up against the far wall. "Wait here," Tori tells her then disappears back up the staircase, so Lauren takes a seat on one of the cushions arranged around the table in the center of the room.

When Tori comes back, she has changed into a black uniform with light blue accents, similar to what Lauren had seen the academy students wearing but with different markings. Next to her is a taller man with dark hair and glasses, his uniform the same sleek, black look as Tori's but with green accents instead.

"Lauren, this is Sensei _Watanabe,_ " Tori says, finding something amusing about that and elbowing the man, and Lauren's eyebrows shoot up.

The man shakes his head, stepping forward and holding his hand out for Lauren to shake. He reaches for her as she's sitting, but Lauren quickly stands, shaking his hand, firmly, and bowing.

"Sensei," she greets, politely.

Sighing, the man rolls his eyes. "Look what you did," he says to Tori, his tone chiding, "You made her polite."

"I didn't _make_ her polite," Tori counters, "She seems pretty polite already."

The man turns to her and smiles, apologetically, " _Sensei_ Hanson is just trying to push my buttons. I'm Cam. I think you've met my cousin -- fought beside her, in fact."

Lauren blinks, "Mia… is your cousin?"

Cam nods.

"But this is… a ninja academy?" she stutters, her brow furrowing.

He waves his hand, "It's a long story, one that I wouldn't wanna bother you with."

"Well…" Lauren clears her throat and tugs at the straps of her knapsack, "I don't really have anywhere to be in a hurry, so I wouldn't mind."

 

-

 

Lauren has dinner with Cam, briefly meeting two other senseis named Shane and Dustin, their sensei uniforms marked with red and yellow, respectively, who drag Tori off to eat with them. The three leave her and Cam in the underground room, and Lauren stares after them as they leave. Even as their laughter echoes down the staircase, she feels their presence quietly slip out of the room.

"They used to be Rangers," Cam says, following her gaze, then gestures to the room they're sitting in, "And this used to be our base."

" _Our_ base?" Lauren asks, "Were you a Ranger, too?"

"Mhm," he hums, "I was Green -- and a samurai, of course."

"You grew up differently than we did," she comments then mentally winces, wondering why she would say _we_ as if she could ever be grouped in with the others. "Does Mia know… about you? About this academy?"

Cam shrugs, "Yeah, she does, but my side of the family is, uh, I guess you could say estranged from the rest."

"Because of the whole… ninja intermarriage," Lauren says, uncertainly, not really knowing how much of it she's allowed to talk about, even if Cam already told her all of it.

"Basically. Are you and her close?"

The thought of her things sitting in Mia's apartment, of her sleeping on Mia's couch and, sometimes, in Mia's bed when Mia complains to her that the couch is _definitely_ bad for her back comes, unbidden, into her mind, and Lauren ignores it with a slight frown. "Uh, kinda, I guess," she mumbles, glad that she let her hair down right before dinner otherwise Cam might see how her ears burn. "I'm not really close to the team," she adds to make herself _not_ dwell on Mia, "I was only there for a short while, and Jayden -- my brother -- has been friends with everyone longer than I have."

Cam nods, understandingly, "Sure. Friendships take time. I don't know if she'll like me, but I'm excited to meet Mia in a couple of weeks."

Lauren isn't sure what he's talking about for a moment then realizes, "Oh. This year's Ranger Reunion, right." She'd gotten an invite for that. It's still sitting on her phone, untouched. She hasn't brought herself to make a decision yet, but there's a certain way she's leaning already. "I think Mia will like you," she says, absently, but means it, "Mia likes everyone, I'm sure."

"That's good to hear," Cam smiles, "Are you going to the reunion?"

 

-

 

That night, laying in a guest room that was given all to herself, Lauren stares at the ceiling, thinking and thinking and thinking too much. The Academy is just as quiet at night with everyone sleeping as it is during the day with everyone sparring and working. She finds that odd, that a place with so many hundreds of people could exist in such silence. At least her silence had made sense -- she had grown up alone.

Restless, Lauren sits up in bed and reaches for her knapsack on the floor and pulls her phone out, tapping at the screen. It lights up, illuminating her face, and she squints against the harsh light but manages to navigate to the e-mail she had received a few weeks ago, sent from a private address, appearing as a bunch of random numbers and letters that she's sure one of the more technical Rangers set up to be untraceable. The Ranger Reunion invite pops up on the screen, two simple options presenting themselves.

Lauren sighs to herself and taps _Not going._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from The Flood - Joshua Hyslop


	6. how we feel is hard to fake // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Samurai team comes over to celebrate New Year's, and Lauren wants to be left alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops, That Rating Escalated... Quickly
> 
> prompt day six: heat
> 
> takes place in january 2014, during the events of super megaforce
> 
>  **chapter-specific warnings:** vague sexual content but i changed the rating because it's... it's not G anymore lmao

For some reason, everyone on the Samurai team decides that Jayden and Antonio's apartment is the  _ best _ place to celebrate New Year's, which makes no sense, really since Mike and Emily's place is bigger. Lauren knows why, though, even though she pretends like she doesn't. One, of course, any party would be wherever the leader is.

And, two, she  _ knows _ they're all not-so-subtly trying to get her to talk to Mia again. Lauren doesn't break easily, though, and she's heard of the stereotype that Reds are stubborn. It's true. Unfortunately. The conversation that night goes around in laps with everyone except Mia actually trying to get Lauren to talk to her.

"So, Lauren, I heard you're working now?" Kevin asks, genuinely curious, but she can also tell that they've all probably been talking about this for awhile in some Samurai group chat they have on their own.

"Mhm," she hums, noncommittally, "It's this Italian place over on 6th and Murphy."

"Oh, cool," Mike says, "Hey, Mia, didn't you say you were thinking of trying some Italian?"

Lauren looks at the TV to avoid Mia's eyes that she feels on her. "Yeah, I did. You guys are welcome to come over anytime to have some," Mia says, sweetly, and Lauren wants to grab the remote and throw it through the TV. Instead, she focuses on the New Year's performances on the screen and tunes everyone else out.

The ball drops at midnight, and everyone kisses the person they love.

Well, not everyone.

Lauren tries her best not to look, but she still catches Mia giving Kevin a quick peck on the cheek and Kevin, to his credit, just shakes his head and laughs. She's about to just storm into her room and slam the door, but Jayden yanks her into a bear hug, trapping her arms against her chest, and, endearingly, kisses the top of her head then, annoyingly, all over her cheeks.

She shoves him away when he starts to try to blow a raspberry at her and rolls her eyes, "Why are you like this?"

"Because it's fun," he quips, grinning.

They break out some apple cider -- because, Lauren reminds, sternly, she's the only one who's  _ actually _ legal and she doesn't drink on principle -- and drink to a new year. It's the first time Lauren has ever  _ celebrated _ a new year with other people. She tries not to think about the fact that it's not exactly a great start.

 

-

 

Everyone leaves to go grab some late night food and celebrate some more, so Lauren goes into her room and locks her door the moment she hears Jayden close the front door behind him. She had declined the invite entirely because she didn't want to go  _ and _ entirely because she doesn't think she could handle another moment of feeling Mia's eyes on her.

There's so many questions that she feels in the air between them, so many questions that Lauren simply can't answer, doesn't know how to answer. She just doesn't know what she'd  _ do _ if she and Mia sat down and talked about the kiss -- or, well, the  _ not-kiss _ kiss.

Anxiety builds in her chest, even as heat builds in her core.

Lauren walks with purpose, going over and switching on the string lights over her bed, not letting the colorful glow get to her. She sets her phone on her bedside table and sets some light music to play softly in the background. Getting into her bed, Lauren lays on top of the covers and bores a hole into the ceiling, her thoughts racing faster than she's used to.

Just-- just-- compartmentalize. Acknowledge the situation, handle it, if possible, and move on.

Letting out a shaky breath, Lauren closes her eyes and slides a hand underneath her shirt, thumb brushing against the edge of her bra. She can feel the scars that still line her stomach from training for all of her life and inhales sharply. They're not battle scars. She's been in two battles her entire life, and she doesn't have a single scar to show from it. A right arm that aches every now and then when she pulls it the wrong way, yes, but no scars, just her anger and her loneliness and her brokenness.

She opens her eyes, stares at the soft glow the string lights cast on her ceiling, and unbuttons her jeans with her free hand, easily slipping a hand between her legs. Foreplay isn't something she bothers with -- at least, not right now when she's had the whole evening of curling up in an armchair by herself while Mia sits across the coffee table from her.

Even now, Lauren can feel Mia's eyes on her, a phantom presence, and wonders how vastly different things would be if she was here. Maybe Mia would run her fingers across Lauren's scars, admiring them. Lauren drags her nails across her stomach, lightly, not enough to actually hurt, just tease, and groans, breathing through gritted teeth. She jerks her hips up against her fingers and breathes just barely, relishing the way her entire body tingles. There's no need to be quiet, not when her door is locked and she knows everyone else has already left, but something about all of it -- the silence, her muted breathing, how little she's actually moving on her bed -- turns her on beyond words. She has always existed quietly.

Fire lives inside of her, hot and angry and crackling, but she doesn't let it out, doesn't add fuel to the flames by making noise. Lauren keeps pressing against the fire, stifling it, burning herself and burning everything and everyone else she touches, but she's the head of her clan, the one who's  _ supposed _ to be able to wield the deadliest of gifts given to man. Destruction is only collateral. Her nails dig into her stomach, harder, deeper, and she's sure that there'll be marks when she showers after.

Lauren comes with no more than a harsh sigh, her body trembling, head thrown back on her pillow, under a ceiling of red and blue and green and yellow and pink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Please Don't Say You Love Me - Gabrielle Aplin
> 
> did u kno that i almost did a g-rated lauren/mia bed sharing piece for this prompt? i probably might in a future chapter but aren't u glad i did this one instead ;)


	7. see the beauty in our tragic // lauren & antonio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren gets dragged along on a sort-of double date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day seven: cotton candy
> 
> takes place in february 2014, during the events of super megaforce

Lauren had, of course, protested that this was dumb and a complete waste of time and then uselessly tried to list off reasons  _ why _ she didn't need to go, but unfortunately, Jayden, Antonio, Mike, and Emily wouldn't have any of it. Hence, why she was currently grumbling her way through the admission gate of the local amusement park, trailing after the other four, holding out her left wrist for a park employee to stick a wristband on it.

" _ Have _ you been to an amusement park before?" Mike asks, not in an offensive or insinuating way, but in more of a  _ You hardly ever talk to anyone else so I don't know much about you besides the basics _ way. Curiosity would be the word.

"Yeah," she mumbles, glancing at the ground, "Mia took me once."

"Oh," he suddenly looks very remorseful at having said anything, and Lauren doesn't miss the look Emily gives him, "Uh, we're gonna go… check out some of the rides." With Emily in tow, Mike quickly scrambles off in a random direction, leaving Lauren with Jayden and Antonio.

"This would be much more fun if I wasn't here," Lauren blatantly states.

Jayden struggles to respond, and she admires the ridiculous amount of effort he's put into pretending like this "group double date, but, like, with friends" wasn't just an excuse to get her away from her job and the apartment. She finds it kind of ironic that she spent so much time by herself that the others kept not-subtly suggesting she try to find a job, and now, everyone's trying to get her  _ away _ from it. Honestly, it's all just a long con to get her to talk to Mia again; Lauren knows that for sure, and she's not falling for it. "That's… not true," he says, frowning, "I have more fun when you're here."

"Oh, and if I wasn't here, you wouldn't have as much fun with Antonio, your  _ boyfriend? _ " She raises her eyebrows and looks between her brother and Antonio.

"Uh…" Jayden pales a bit, realizing that there's no right way to answer that, "Come on, Lauren, just…"

"Just what?"

He sighs and rubs his neck, "Nevermind. I'm… I'll be right back. Gonna find the restroom." Jayden walks off, his shoulders slightly hunched.

Lauren looks at Antonio, who presses his lips into a thin line, looking very awkward and nervous about setting her off. She knows that this was mostly Jayden's idea, and his team would do anything to help him out. However, she would've believed it all more if Kevin and Mia had been invited.  _ Then, _ it would be a proper group outing, but this way, it's just a way to get her thoughts off of everything.

"Do you… know cotton candy?" he asks, and she follows his gaze to a vendor and his cart feet away from them.

"I know of it," Lauren replies, flatly.

"Have you ever had it?"

"Nope."

Antonio's face lights up with a grin, and he takes her by the elbow, pulling her over to the vendor's cart. "One cotton candy, please," he says, taking his wallet out of his pocket. Lauren tries to grab his wallet from him, but he keeps it out of her reach.

"Which color?" the vendor asks.

Antonio pauses. There's literally only two choices, and Lauren knows immediately why he hesitates. "Bl--"

She cuts him off, keeping her voice steady, "Pink." It's hard for her voice to tremble when it's just one word, thankfully. Antonio glances at her, uncertainly, but she ignores him. Lauren refuses to let a  _ color _ get to her. What kind of samurai would she be if she got hung up over small, trivial things like that?

After paying, Antonio takes the cotton candy cone and hands it to her, smiling, "Here you go."

Lauren chuckles and shakes her head, "I feel like you're making this out to be a bigger deal than it is."

"As I should -- it's an American staple," he says, nodding.

Given her childhood, she doesn't really have the intuition to argue with him on that, so she just rolls her eyes and concedes, plucking a small puff of cotton candy from the cone and popping it into her mouth.

Somehow, it's less sweet than Lauren would've expected something to be made completely out of sugar to taste. Not as overwhelming as she had braced herself for. She forces a smile, "It's good."

"Awesome!" Antonio grins and gives her two thumbs up.

"Hey, guys!" 

Lauren turns to see Jayden returning, waving at them as he approaches. "That's my cue to go," she quickly tells Antonio before he can protest, "I'm gonna go play some of those games. I wanna see if they're  _ really _ rigged." Walking away, Lauren takes another bite of cotton candy and tries not to compare it to Mia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Firework - Canyon City


	8. the fire burns right down to fumes // lauren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren has some time to herself at the top of a Ferris Wheel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's rly short bc it's a continuation of the last one kinda
> 
> prompt day eight: ferris wheel
> 
> takes place in february 2014, the same day as prompt seven

As it turns out, the games at the amusement park aren't  _ entirely _ rigged or, at least, they're not so rigged that Lauren, a fully-trained, well-built, skilled samurai, can't  _ not _ win at one of them. She knocks over a pyramid of empty milk jugs in her first go then does it two more times, just so that she can have the game employee ask her which one of the extra large prizes she wants.

Lauren takes the giant stuffed turtle that's practically as big as her with her on the Ferris Wheel next, setting it next to her on the passenger car. Technically, this passenger car is big enough for two, and  _ technically, _ the turtle is the second person. Technically. She ignores the look that she gets from the ride operator, figuring that, one, he's probably seen this quite a bit before and, two, strangers generally don't want to be stuck together for the entirety of a Ferris Wheel ride, anyway.

The ride starts up, and Lauren gently swings her legs, holding onto the railing of the car, as she ascends. It's doubtful that she can find the other four from here, despite her increasing vantage point and near perfect vision, but Lauren tries. It's not like she doesn't know what colors their shirts are, anyway. As she gets nearer to the top, she manages to spot Mike and Emily -- or, at least, who she thinks are Mike and Emily with his dark hair and green shirt and her blonde hair and yellow shirt -- near one of the concession stands not too far from the Ferris Wheel, buying popcorn. The girl that Lauren is sure is Emily reaches up and ruffles the hair of the boy that Lauren is sure is Mike, leaning over to say something in his ear.

Finally, she reaches the top. Lauren sighs. The breeze up here messes up her hair, and she pulls it into a quick, messy bun, brushing strands of hair out of her face. The view from up here is beautiful -- beautiful enough that Lauren pulls her phone out and snaps a photo of the distant coastline, of tiny shapes of people brave enough to go out to the beach in sixty-degree weather, of the waves lapping against the shore and the setting sun.

It's a view, Lauren realizes with a quiet start, that shouldn't be experienced alone.

Sighing to herself, she puts her phone away and reaches over, wrapping an arm around her giant stuffed turtle and pulling it into a hug. It's surprisingly softer and fuzzier than she had expected for amusement park quality, and she rests her chin on top of its head. Still not as warm as an actual person, though, not that she'd really quite know what that would be like, would she?

After a moment's pause, she smiles, sadly, and whispers for just her and the turtle to hear, a secret to be lost in the waters when the sun sets, "I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Firework - Canyon City


	9. these words aren't meant for anyone else // lauren & kevin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren asks Kevin for a favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day nine: camping
> 
> set during march 2014, during the events of super megaforce

"Thank you for doing this with me," Lauren says for the millionth time in the past couple of days as she and Kevin set up camp for the night. It feels like cheating a little bit to strike a match against a box and toss it into the pile of wood they'd gathered for a fire, but then again, it would be cheating even more so if she just simply pulled her Samuraizer out and set the wood on fire. After all, when they had set off, Kevin had agreed to Lauren's terms of not using their powers unless the final destination needed it -- or unless there was an emergency. She wasn't about to break her own conditions.

"You've said that already," Kevin responds, "But, you're welcome, again."

She sits back and leans against her backpack, watching the light from the flames flicker off of Kevin's face as he prepares dinner, "I know, but you should be training if you wanna make it back to Rio."

He shakes his head, "I'll be fine for a couple of days, Lauren. Besides, with how much we're hiking, this is plenty of training. It's not swimming, but I think it counts just this once."

She doesn't think it counts, but she smiles anyway.

Kevin leaves the pot to heat over the fire and settles back, sitting down next to her. "Okay, I have to ask," he starts, "I know we haven't talked much since we left, but…"

"Why didn't I ask Jayden to come with me?" she finishes for him.

They  _ haven't _ talked much over the past couple of days or just, in general, really. She had tracked Kevin down, having moved back to the Shiba house for his off-season training, and asked him, simply, to come with her to visit her roots. "I knew about these grounds before from when I was growing up, but I never visited them for myself. I thought maybe it was time to change that, so… here I am." That had been the extent of what Lauren had said the entire time. That and telling Kevin about how Cam helped her figure out where the borders of the Shiba ancestral grounds lay all the way across the world so that she and Kevin could teleport themselves right on the edge of where they were allowed to do so and trek the rest of the way. They're hours out from the hills of Kotsubo, but those fenced-off samurai tombs that are a bit too close to civilization for her comfort aren't the ones Lauren is looking for.

Lauren answers, finally, "I don't know." It's her default answer for a lot of things, she finds, but it's an honest one, at least. "This is something I have to do… without him, I guess," she says, frowning. Ironic how she had originally wanted to spend so much time with him, surrounded by friends, but lately, she's just been ignoring him out of fear and anxiety.

Kevin ponders her answer for a moment then nods, "Well, then, I'm honored that you asked me to come along."

"It felt right," she murmurs.

"Cam told me about how two of the Ninja Rangers saw the ghosts of their parents in a place like this once," Lauren continues, quietly, keeping her voice as low and soft as she can but still enough for Kevin to hear her. Ghosts don't scare her, but doing so is more out of respect and honor than fear. "Some sort of mountain where the spirits of lost ninjas dwelled."

"Is that what you're looking for? Your parents' spirits?" Kevin asks, curiously. He glances around, reflexively, and Lauren bites back a chuckle.

"No, not really," she shakes her head, thoughtfully, "I… I don't know if I would have anything to say to them -- not in a bad way or anything -- but just because I don't have anything unresolved with them, you know? I'm not angry about how I was raised or how my life turned out or that my father died in battle. I'm just…" She sighs, "Lonely."

"That makes sense," Kevin says; he looks at her, "Would you mind if I…" He makes a hugging motion, and this time, she does chuckle.

"Yeah, sure," Lauren rolls her eyes and leans into the hug he gives her, resting her head against his shoulder. They gaze into the campfire together. "Do you think we should've been taught how to be people before we were taught how to be samurai?" she asks, quietly, bitterly.

"Maybe."

"Do you think it would've changed anything?"

Kevin sighs and rubs a gentle circle on her shoulder with his thumb, "Maybe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Sense of Home - Harrison Storm
> 
> i tagged this as platonic but honestly??? lauren/kevin is a quality ass ship too lbr ok but however this is for femslash february (yes i know it's march now rip... i started super late)


	10. don’t know how i’ll ever break this curse // lauren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Armada comes to Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day ten: alone
> 
> set during super megaforce s1e19 "the wraith" and s1e20 "legendary battle", which i've decided is like april 2014

She had known there was an active Ranger team out there, somewhere. They hadn't shown up to last year's Ranger Reunion, which was understandable. They were probably busy. Lauren catches them on the news, sometimes, when Jayden is flipping around channels and she walks by, and he had told her that he and Ji paid them a visit. She sees shaky camera footage of the Megaforce Rangers taking on the suits of Jayden's team and wonders if they even know that there's another Red in the line-up.

Lauren doesn't worry too much about them since she hears through the grapevine -- being Antonio, that is -- that the Megaforce kids have a handful of mysterious visitors helping them out from time to time. If it makes her clench her jaw and sit a little straighter to think about why her legacy couldn't have visited her every now and then, she doesn't let it show to anyone else in the apartment. It's not their fault, anyway. She had to hide when this team doesn't.

Then, the Armada launches their final attack on Earth, and Lauren isn't on the front lines.

She, Jayden, and Antonio are in the middle of deciding where to go out for dinner later -- because  _ that _ never takes any less than half an hour -- when Jayden and Antonio both disappear in front of her eyes in red and gold flashes of light.

"What… the hell?" she whispers to herself and almost calls out for them when red lights flicker in her vision. Her body tingles all over, and she squeezes her eyes shut, her stomach churning as if she's floating in the air, then collapses against asphalt.

Lauren coughs and opens her eyes to chaos. The unmistakable smell of smoke and ashes and the sounds of panicked screams fill the air. A man is at her side in an instant, helping her up.

"Are you okay?" he asks, "Lauren, right? Shiba clan?"

She opens her mouth to ask how he knows, but her eye catches on the morpher on his wrist.

"Mike Corbett," he greets, and her memory stirs, faintly, of how he looks like one of the Reds she had been introduced to last year.

"Where's--" Lauren whirls around, looking for someone she knows, for Jayden or Antonio or  _ anyone _ from the Samurai team. She almost says  _ my team _ but stops herself in time. There's only chaos, rubble, debris, people crying and bleeding.

Fire to the whole world.

"I don't know," Mike falters, finishing her question in his mind, "Leo and I got here together. I think he went to help."

She has so many questions, first of which being  _ why, _ but Lauren has been trained to act first in situations like this. "Then, let's go do that."

 

-

 

Nobody knows they're Power Rangers. She brushes past other Rangers in different parts of the city, all sharing the same story as her, taken from their homes or even, conspicuously, their jobs in broad daylight, summoned to help. Mike sticks with her, for some reason, even when Leo comes and goes. There's a small group of them who debrief when they can, splitting up tasks between them all. Lauren counts her and Leo being the only two Reds, and he takes charge too easily that she's just fine with letting him. She isn't quite eager to lead a team so soon again.

So much destruction, so few hands to help.

Lauren hears the doubt and fear even as she stitches up wounds with steady hands.

_ Where are the Power Rangers? _

At night, Leo tells her about how, when he was younger, he saw the Astro Rangers save Earth from an alien invasion. He mentions Astronema, and Lauren's eyes flicker to Karone but the woman doesn't flinch or look at the ground. If anything, she raises her chin up slightly, confident and defiant of her past.

It makes Lauren wonder how long it will take her to shake off her own demons.

 

-

 

The hours blur together. Lauren has been on her feet for so long that it's felt like days, even though she's positive she has only seen one sunrise since being summoned from Jayden and Antonio's apartment. Her phone is long dead, but even if it wasn't, she knows from the first few hours that everyone is too busy trying to keep things together to check up on each other. A Ranger's first duty isn't to each other, but to the world.

Her body begins tingling again, shortly after Mike's watch hits noon, and at first, Lauren waves it off as sleep deprivation supported only by a stockpile of energy drinks that Dustin and Blake had brought back from an almost entirely ransacked convenience store last night. But, when Mike grabs her arm and shuffles her off to crouch behind a pile of rubble, she knows it isn't.

 

-

 

It makes sense, in hindsight, that she ends up on the battlefield without a  _ real _ team. Leo, Karone, Dustin, Blake, and Damon are nowhere to be found, but Mike is still there, along with other Rangers but not the core ones. Not quite sixths but just there -- some chosen, some not.

A legion of Xborgs is visible in the distance, coming over a hill. They're stuck in a valley, giving them all an advantage and disadvantage at once. Mike nudges her shoulder. "We're waiting for you," he says with an encouraging nod.

Lauren pauses, glancing at the ragtag group next to them. They're all older than her, have been Rangers longer than her, and she uncertainly meets the gaze of a much older man, his hair grey, eyes wise and aged. There is magic in his bones, different from the fire in hers, but they're both Reds. He has years over her, but he nods, too, letting her take the lead.

Her morpher is heavy in her hand as she slips it out of her pocket, but her hand is steady as she draws the strokes of the kanji in the air. Fire in her bones, fire in her eyes, magic in her blood, anger in her heart.

Somewhere out there, Jayden is with his team, and somehow, she and the others are here with nothing, and that's enough to make her burn.

 

-

 

The battlefield is in ruins behind her, and it still is not enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Burn It Down - Daughter
> 
> the In Space rangers should be called the astro rangers and this is something u can pry from my cold dead hands
> 
> i didn't include mike in the title bc i felt like that defeated the purpose of the prompt being "alone" but he's going in the tags anyway


	11. and i hope to god the time ain't wrong // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren can't help her natural urge to run, but thankfully, Mia understands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day eleven: it's okay
> 
> takes place concurrently with "oh my love, oh my love", right after the events of super megaforce, which is like april 2014

Lauren cradles her mug of coffee in her hands, watching the cars pass by down on the street below. Mia's apartment has a small balcony attached to the kitchen area, and that is where her girlfriend finds her, sliding the balcony door open then closing it. She doesn't shift as Mia takes a seat next to her, also dangling her legs through the railing. A blanket is wrapped around Mia's shoulders, and she arranges it so that it covers Lauren's shoulders as well.

Girlfriend.

Weird.

"You know, you're the first person I've ever dated," Lauren says, taking a sip of coffee.

Mia chuckles and rolls her eyes, "Good morning to you, too." She holds out her hand and wiggles her fingers, motioning for the mug which Lauren hands over after a reluctant moment. "I was gonna make breakfast in bed, but you weren't in bed," she says, quietly. Her tone isn't accusatory, but Lauren tenses the same.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs, guiltily, "I needed some air… to think."

"Oh, um," Mia goes to hand the mug back to Lauren but she shakes her head, so she sets it on the ground next to her, "We… we don't have to do this, if you don't want to." There's a waver in her voice. 

Lauren's heart twists, and immediately, she backtracks, "No, no, it's not that. I-I want to, I do."

"But?"

Lauren doesn't want to look at her, but she forces herself to, using a corner of the blanket to wipe away the beginning of tears in her eyes.

"Lauren," Mia whispers, hesitantly.

"I'm-- I'm scared," she says, sputtering, "I don't-- I've never--"

Everything is hopelessly out of order, and while Lauren hasn't ever had a real routine to her life -- her  _ real _ life, the one outside of the confines of her Samurai duties -- she doesn't know what to do next. They started unconventionally, had an unconventional middle, and here they are. It's not every day she fights monsters taller than buildings and carries the weight of her ancestors on her shoulders.

"Hey." Mia touches her shoulder, gently, fingers just barely brushing.

"I don't want this to be, like, a one-time thing," she says, her voice weak, "I want-- I want you. I want… something. Us together."

Mia scoots closer and pulls Lauren into her arms, their knees and sides touching. "I want us to be something, too."

Lauren nods. "You're my home," she says, "I just… I've never had one of those before."

Mia traces her thumb along Lauren's cheek and gives her a soft kiss on the lips, "That's okay. A home takes time to break in." She slips her fingers through Lauren's and nods to inside the apartment. "Come on, let's get back to bed," Mia smiles, a little coyly, "Maybe make it a two-time thing?"

Lauren blinks and shakes her head, chuckling, but her stomach flips in the good way all the same, "Oh, you're bad." Nevertheless, she doesn't resist when Mia pulls her up to her feet and only just remembers to grab her mug before they head back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Wandering Child - Wild Rivers


	12. most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs // lauren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren will always remember the first time she saw Jayden's team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> consistent tense? who is she
> 
> prompt day twelve: rewind
> 
> takes place in christmas 2011, during the events of samurai

The Christmas season was simultaneously deemed safe and not safe for Lauren to go out. It had taken years for her to get the argument through that she will be  _ cautious _ and  _ prepared  _ when going outside. The risks were high -- if the Nighlok found her, then her presence alone could endanger so many lives because, of course, the Christmas season was one of the most populous times of the year for people to be out and about. On the other hand, it'd be harder for the Nighlok to find her if she blended into the giant crowds of pedestrians coming from their shopping sprees.

She had been eased into going outside. At first, she would go with her mentor when he went into the next town for supplies, sometimes, but those trips were rather infrequent. The less people saw him and Lauren together, the better, because then she couldn't be tied back to that quaint house in the woods that hardly anyone ever came out of.

As she grew into her teens, Lauren pushed for being allowed to go outside on jogs. So many restrictions had been put onto her: monthly, half an hour, only around the grounds, no wandering onto the main road or, even, any of the side roads, no going deeper into the woods. She paced out her bargaining over the years and counted every rule change as a small victory: weekly, an hour, around the woods and she would come back as soon as she hit the first hint of a side road or other people.

Sometimes, she would see campers or hikers and would veer away before they could ask her for directions. It doesn't particularly strike her as worrisome until, in one of her lessons, she learns about Stockholm syndrome. Lauren quickly wipes the thought from her mind, of course, because she knows that her individual case is different. She  _ has _ to be hidden away for the sake of the samurai, for the sake of the world.

For awhile, Lauren had stopped believing that her day would ever come. Once she mastered the Sealing Symbol, she would be ready to join the other Samurai Rangers, but sometimes, in bed at night, she scoffed at the idea that the Power Rangers had been formed. Maybe Xandred would never rise again and she would be stuck here forever, waiting for an ending that would never write itself. But, the first day her mentor  _ wasn't _ reading the local newspaper that he walked into town every morning before she rose to get, Lauren knew something was different.

"No newspaper today?" she had asked, trying to sound casual.

"I already read it on the walk back," he had replied, taking a sip of breakfast tea, "Nothing special."

She wasn't trained to pick up on nonverbal cues or body language or any of that fancy applied psychology tricks, but living with someone for all of her life still gave her the same advantage. "Oh, okay."

Her mentor watched her train for hours, correcting her form whenever she slipped up because her mind was briefly elsewhere, but when she was to freshen up and sit down for some quiet studying, he disappeared out to the back to tend to the garden. Their schedules were fixed in routine, and luckily, Lauren could rely on that. She had peeked into the recycling bin, not finding the newspaper where her mentor normally discarded it after he was finished reading, and that tipped her off even more.

She snuck into his room and found the newspaper sitting on his bedside table. Perhaps he thought she wouldn't find it. After all, they lived by routine. Lauren would have no  _ normal _ reason to just go wandering around the house when she was meant to be in the living room or her room studying.

He had been hiding it from her. But why?

Lauren picked up the newspaper and unfolded it, staring at the front page and its glaringly loud headline:  _ PANORAMA CITY'S NEW SUPERHEROES SAVE THE DAY. _ Underneath was a photo that had been taken from a distance, blurry and out of focus, but Lauren recognized the five streaks of color, frozen mid-action, slicing through Nighlok with their swords.

A sinking feeling entering her stomach, Lauren re-folded the paper and set it back on the bedside table. In the months after, her mentor stopped reading the paper at the table, but she would peek into his room and see the stack that he was hiding in his desk drawer. He never mentioned it, so she never asked. Truth be told, Lauren should have resented him more for it, but the quiet anger that dwelled in her heart was chained back by her respect for duty. He was just doing what was right, keeping her focused on her mission by not letting her be distracted by what the Samurai Rangers were up to. If she wasn't focused on her training, then she couldn't be a valuable leader and asset to her team when she joined them, no matter how much she knew of their pasts.

She went back to her training, saving her knowledge of the Rangers to herself. When Christmas season came, Lauren insisted on going over to the next town by herself.

"I just wanna see the lights," she had all but begged, "One hour. Just one."

Her mentor had sighed and nodded after she brought it up during every meal that day, "Fine, one hour, but you come back once that hour is over and if something happens--"

"If something happens, I call you, I know, I know." Lauren practically ran to the door, only remembering her coat at the last moment.

She didn't go over to the next town. First, she lingered in the trees surrounding the house, making sure that her mentor wasn't following her, and then, she went deeper into the woods. Nobody was around to see her pull her Samuraizer out and teleport this far in, not at night, anyway. It was her first time using her Samuraizer to teleport that wasn't just her mandated practice of going from her room to the backyard or from the woods to the house.

Naturally, she landed where she wanted to but coughed and gagged, leaning against the wall of the alley she'd teleported into for support. This distance was the furthest Lauren had ever gone, and the drain on her symbol power was evident. Her body felt fatigued already, even though she had just had dinner no less than two hours ago. Tucking her Samuraizer into her pocket, Lauren pulled her coat tighter around her body and stepped out onto the sidewalk, taking her first look at Panorama City.

The streets were busy but quietly so, people milling about with shopping bags, bundled up in their winter clothes. Soft yellow string lights were wrapped around every tree on the sidewalk, illuminating the street in a gentle glow. She had just thought  _ Panorama City, _ vaguely, but landing in a shopping strip was better than she had anticipated. Not that Lauren had any actual money with her, but she eagerly began walking, excited to just pause and look in the windows at the displays and the shoppers going about their business.

The seventh store she walked by -- after stopping in the window of the first to glance at a sharp blazer on a mannequin and bumping into someone, wanting to walk into the third because it was such a  _ colorful _ toy store but there were kids rampant inside and anxiety bubbled up inside of her at the thought of being around so much noise and so many strangers, and quickly passing the fifth which ended up being a burger grill that smelled  _ delicious _ but, once again, she didn't have actual money and she'd just eaten, but, wow, she could only imagine what would food straight from a restaurant would taste like -- was an electronics store with flashy flatscreen TVs on display. Lauren  _ definitely _ didn't have the money for one of those or a need for one, but she stopped, regardless, because on the screen of one of the TVs was a news feature about the Samurai Rangers.

The camera was distant as it usually was, but Lauren saw the Rangers, regardless, in their suits, red, blue, green, yellow, pink… and gold? There was a lot she wasn't privy to, apparently. Maybe she should have looked at those stack of newspapers more thoroughly rather than respecting her mentor hiding them from her.

Turning away from the window display, Lauren kept walking. She still had the rest of her hour to spend, and she  _ knew _ where she was specifically supposed to stay away from, lest her presence alert the rest of the Samurai team to her existence or, worse, the Nighlok. Shoving her hands into her coat pockets, she blinked as the first flake of the night's snowfall landed on her cheek, underneath her eye. Sighing, Lauren wiped the snowflake away, watching it melt into nothing between her fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Youth - Daughter


	13. we can treat love like a firework // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren moves in with Mia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt thirteen: stuffed animal
> 
> takes place in may 2014

It's not even a question for her to move out of Jayden and Antonio's apartment.

"It's time for me to go and stop crowding," she says.

"You're not _crowding._ "

She stops him with a look, "Use my bedroom as storage. Or, if you're so keen on having the company, just ask Kevin to move in."

He pulls her into a hug, and she just awkwardly pats his back. "I just wanna make sure that you know that we loved having you here, Lauren."

"Mhm," she hums, noncommittally, not believing that herself but shrugs it off.

 

-

 

She strips her bedroom and packs it all into two storage totes, maximum, along with the biggest of her possessions, the giant stuffed turtle, sitting on top of one of the boxes. The bedroom is empty, now, save for the bed shoved in the corner, which isn't hers, anyway. As an afterthought, she moves it back to the center of the wall where it'd been when she first moved in.

Then, Lauren pulls her Samuraizer out and draws the teleport kanji in the air. She and her things disappear in a puff of smoke and reappear in Mia's living room, just shy of hitting her coffee table.

"Holy shit!" Mia curses, banging her head on a cabinet door in the kitchen when she notices Lauren just… standing there.

"Hey," Lauren greets, "I said I'd be coming over with my stuff."

Mia gapes at her then frowns, "I thought you'd use… the _door._ "

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare you?" Lauren asks, grinning.

"Shut up." Mia closes the cabinet and comes over, pulling Lauren into a kiss, "Mm, I was thinking about what to make for dinner later, which was when I was _assuming_ you were coming over."

Lauren chuckles, resting her hands on Mia's hips, and asks with a twinkle in her eye, "Did you have any plans for dessert?"

Mia raises her eyebrows and blushes, licking her lips, but she takes a step back, composing herself. "You're gonna distract me," she accuses, jokingly.

"I was never taught how to be distracting," Lauren says, faking innocence.

Remaining unconvinced, Mia rolls her eyes. She looks at Lauren's two storage boxes, "This is it?"

"Told you," Lauren shrugs, "I live light."

Mia doesn't say anything to that but picks up the stuffed turtle, looking it in the eye. "And who's this lil' guy?"

"Um," Lauren shoves her hands into her pockets and says, shyly, "It's, uh, for you, actually."

Mia blinks, "For me?"

She nods, "Um, yeah, I went to, you know, that Pacific Park with Jayden, Antonio, Mike, and Emily a couple months back, and that was, like, the first thing I ever won. I picked that one because, um…" Lauren trails off and sheepishly rubs her neck.

"Because?" Mia asks, getting the gist but still raising her eyebrows.

"Because it… reminded me of you," Lauren mumbles.

Mia puts the turtle down on the armchair and walks back over to Lauren, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Babe," she says, seriously, "That's really gay."

"Shut up," Lauren rolls her eyes then adds as a sarcastic afterthought, "I'll show you gay."

"Oh, yeah?"

" _Yeah,_ " she leans over and quickly picks Mia up before she can protest.

"Lauren!" Mia shrieks but doesn't bother squirming her way out of Lauren's arms even though she can, "Put me down!" Lauren gently tosses Mia onto the couch and climbs on top of her, laughing gleefully.

Mia shakes her head and rolls her eyes but doesn't move, "What about dinner?"

"Mm, we can figure that out later," she says, lightly brushing her lips against Mia's jaw.

Mia hums, threading her fingers through Lauren's hair. "Which means probably going out," she concludes, breathily.

"Yeah, probably," Lauren murmurs, moving her lips down to Mia's neck, "Which means we can _shower_ and freshen up before going out."

"Mm… Lauren?"

"Mhm?"

"Not that I don't, uh," Mia clears her throat, "Not that I don't appreciate where this is going, but…"

Lauren stops and glances at her, concerned. "What? What is it? Am I doing something wrong?"

"No, no, you're fine," Mia says, quickly, then laughs, shaking her head.

"What is it, then?"

Mia nods to over Lauren's shoulder, "The turtle."

Lauren looks then rolls her eyes, " _Mia._ "

"I'm not gonna have sex with you in front of the turtle you just gave me, _Lauren._ "

"Fine," Lauren huffs but gets up and takes Mia into her arms, bridal-style, again without arguing.

Mia leans her head against Lauren's shoulder and contently sighs. "I could get used to this," she says, tracing her thumb against the collar of Lauren's shirt as Lauren walks them to the bedroom.

Lauren smiles as she sets Mia down on the bed. "Yeah, me, too," she agrees, softly, climbing on top of Mia again and pressing their bodies together, "Now, uh, where were we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Firework - Canyon City as a sort of part 3 to chapters 7 & 8


	14. shook me up when your love was home // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Months before she and Mia get together, Lauren spends her last Valentine's Day alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day fourteen: valentine's day
> 
> set during february 2014, during the events of super megaforce and shortly before chapters 7 & 8

It's Valentine's Day again.

Jayden and Antonio are out of the apartment as expected, although Jayden has been not-so-subtly dropping hints at her that he wants to take her on some sort of group outing soon. Lauren has ignored him every single time, but she feels like it's about to come back and bite her in the ass in a short while. Regardless, at least she doesn't have to be at home in the apartment moping by herself -- not that she'd be  _ moping. _ Well, maybe, moping, but if she were at home, Lauren definitely thinks she would've come up with a few ways to ease the tension in her body by now.

Either way, she has to work a shift on  _ Valentine's Day _ at an  _ Italian _ restaurant of all places, which turns out exactly like the personal hell that she'd woken up this morning expecting. Waiting keeps her busy, though, and Lauren counts her blessings that she's not at the hostess stand because smiling at people coming in today doesn't sound like something she thinks she can do. Taking orders and staying on her feet fills her mind with enough numbing, menial tasks that she can just  _ go _ and  _ do _ without really dwelling on her thoughts.

Couples come in. Many of them, actually, and thankfully, none of them are Jayden and Antonio or Mike and Emily. There's a few close calls where Lauren's mind plays tricks on her and she  _ thinks _ she sees a pink cardigan or hair pin that could be Mia, but when she looks, it's not.

Her shift is tiring and goes on into the night. She leaves right before the dinner rush, breathing out a sigh of relief when she goes home and collapses straight on top of her bed, not bothering to change out of her work clothes. Jayden and Antonio are still not home, but Lauren doesn't feel in the mood to release her feelings.

She rolls over on her back and stares at the ceiling.

Frowns.

Changes her voice just slightly to where it's not her own and says in a fakely sweet tone, "Happy Valentine's Day, Lauren."

She huffs, and her eyes travel down the line of multi-colored lights hanging over her bed, lingering on every fifth, pink bulb. "Happy Valentine's Day, Mia," she mutters back.

The response comes easily to her, even if she knows that Mia wouldn't be so cruel to her.  _ She,  _ however, is cruel to herself. "Why didn't you kiss me, Lauren?"

Groaning, she sits up and runs her hands over her face. "I don't know," Lauren confesses to the open air of her bedroom, "Why  _ didn't _ I kiss you?"

Nobody answers.

With a final sigh, she gets up and starts stripping her clothes off. Maybe a shower would make her feel better. Maybe not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Anchor - Novo Amor


	15. they say that distance can grow your heart // lauren & kimberly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Kimberly is in New York for work, Lauren goes to visit her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day fifteen: music
> 
> set during june 2014

The bar and grill is quaint and somewhat hipster-y with its overhead string lights and chalkboard menus on the wall next to the entrance. Lauren lets herself be tugged through the front door by Mia, their fingers intertwined. There's a table for six nearer to the front, already occupied by Tommy, Kat, and Tanya. That's where Mia makes a beeline for, and Lauren just shakes her head, smiling as Mia comes up behind Kat and surprises her with a hug before sitting down next to her. Lauren sits next to Mia, murmuring quiet greetings to the other three veterans. She's not as familiar with them, although she's heard of and seen them all at least once by now. Kat and Tanya live in New York, and Kimberly's in the city for work, which means Tommy is visiting.

It makes sense that Kat and Tanya are here to see Kimberly play at the open mic night at this bar, but Lauren doesn't know why she was invited out of all people, especially considering that she's not particularly close to any of them. However, with the enthusiastic smile Mia has on her face, Lauren suspects that her girlfriend probably has something to do with it.

The first part of the night passes by slowly as other patrons have a go at the open mic. Lauren enjoys what food she can, but a full house has never been one of her comfort spots. It doesn't help that Lauren, with her lifelong training, had noticed a couple of people quietly freaking out at their tables the moment they recognized  _ the _ Tanya Sloan was sitting in this very same bar. Lauren isn't too involved in keeping up with other Rangers' lives, but she would've figured that, after living in New York for decades, Tanya would be able to shake that draw when she goes out in public, but apparently not. When Lauren is done nervously comfort-eating the burger and fries she had ordered, Mia casually nudges her own basket of half-finished fries over and squeezes her knee under the table.

Kimberly's fifth to perform, and when she gets up on stage and takes the guitar offered to her, Lauren sees something looser in her step and the way she holds herself. She knows what it is, of course. The same reason why  _ she _ feels different, if only slightly, after the battle with the Armada. Lauren shoots Tommy a glance, but he's only looking at Kimberly.

When Kimberly finishes her song, Lauren and the rest of the table clap loudest for her. She hops off of the stage and sits down next to Lauren, positively blushing and grinning. "Thanks, you guys," she mumbles, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Tommy kisses Kimberly on the cheek and beams, "That's my girl."

"Oh, gross," Lauren mutters, jokingly, but Mia elbows her, "What?"

When dinner is over, they take to the streets, the four of them since Kat and Tanya want to turn in early. "You two are  _ so _ old," Mia teases, and Kat just rolls her eyes as Lauren perfectly flags down a taxi for the couple.

"Red's got skills," Kimberly whistles, appreciatively, "And you didn't even grow up in the city."

Lauren shrugs, a little smugly, "What can I say? I'm just an ace at everything I do."

"I can vouch for that," Mia chimes in, wiggling her eyebrows.

Tommy rolls his eyes and says in his best impression of Kimberly, " _ Gross. _ "

Kimberly chuckles, wrapping an arm around Tommy's waist as the four of them pause at a street crossing, "Thanks for coming out tonight, you guys."

"Of course," Lauren says, "I just gotta ask -- why, you know, specifically us? I mean, Mia's Pink, but I don't…" She motions between her and Kimberly and makes a questioning noise.

"I just haven't seen you in awhile," Kimberly says, simply, shrugging, as if it's just that easy, "Thought we should hang out since I had some free time tonight."

"Oh. Oh, okay."

It's not until Lauren and Mia walk them back to Kimberly's hotel then teleport back to Mia's apartment back in Panorama City that Mia asks between cuddles and kisses to Lauren's shoulders as she just stands and stares at the open fridge.

"What's bothering you?"

Lauren closes the fridge door, not protesting at all when Mia gently pushes her against the fridge, "Oh, so you're okay with doing it on furniture now?"

Mia chuckles and rests her forehead against Lauren's, "Not right now, no. I just wanna know what you're thinking about."

She sighs and lets her hands rest on Mia's waist, pulling her closer until they're hugging, comforting warmth against comforting warmth. "Just something Kimberly said earlier about wanting to hang out."

"Mm, what about it?" Mia murmurs against her neck.

"Just…" Lauren presses a kiss to the top of Mia's head, "I'm still getting used to the idea of people choosing me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from One Less Bird - Silver Trees
> 
> i only put kimberly's name in the chapter bc it's like... centered around her and lauren but mia, tommy, tanya, and kat also make an appearance


	16. someone come make this house home // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren and Mia stay in and watch a movie together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day sixteen: rest day - there was none and this was meant to be a break day... if i actually did this collection the way it was meant to be done lol
> 
> this was completely self-indulgent and super short anyway
> 
> set during july 2014

Between dumb tears and dumb sobbing and Mia offering her a tissue box that she hugs to her chest, Lauren manages to sob out, "Why didn't you  _ warn _ me?"

Mia just chuckles and rubs her thumb against Lauren's cheek, wiping away a few tears, "I mean… I said it was a movie about the last robot on Earth. I think that alone was a warning in itself. I just didn't know you'd react so  _ strongly. _ "

"He was so  _ faithful, _ " Lauren cries, letting out a loud wail, " _ Mia! _ "

"What? I'm sorry!" Mia can't help but laugh but pulls Lauren into a hug, kissing the top of her head, "Well, now, I know what your favorite movie is."

"He collects trash," Lauren whines, muffled, "That's so… cute."

There's other things she likes about Wall-E, of course, all things that she's pretty sure Mia can glean without prompting, either. The isolation, the dedication to duty, the innocence, the fondness for the wonder of the world. She sobs into Mia's shirt, her train of thought barreling down that tunnel at full speed.

"Oh, babe," Mia chuckles and hugs Lauren a little tighter, "There was a happy ending, though."

"Does that imply you'd ever show me a movie  _ without _ a happy ending?" Lauren mumbles, curiously.

"Hmmmm."

Lauren pulls back and rubs at her eyes, blinking at the sting of her tears, and stares seriously at Mia, giving her girlfriend her best pout, "Could you stand to break my heart like that?"

" _ Hmmmm, _ " Mia hums, slightly louder.

Rolling her eyes, Lauren playfully punches her in the shoulder.

"Here," Mia gets off of the couch and grabs the giant turtle from where it's made its home on one of the armchairs. It practically lives there, now, and sometimes, Lauren will pet its head when she gets home from work. She sits back down next to Lauren and places the turtle between them as a pillow they both lean on.

Lauren takes Mia's hand as she reaches over the turtle, linking their fingers together.

"You know," Mia comments, "I don't think we ever named this lil' guy."

"Uhhh…" She shrugs, uselessly, "I don't know. I've… never really thought much about giving things names."

"Shiba," Mia teases.

"Oh,  _ no, _ " Lauren hastily shakes her head then jokes back, " _ Watanabe. _ "

"Leave!"

She holds their entwined hands up and kisses the back of Mia's. "How about…" she murmurs, "Sam?"

Mia raises her eyebrows, "Sam?"

"Short for, uh, samurai," Lauren murmurs, rubbing her neck with her free hand, "That's dumb--"

"No, I like it," Mia interrupts, giving Lauren a reassuring smile. Then, she purses her lips, "Well, now that it has a name, we  _ definitely _ can't do anything in front of it."

" _ Mia. _ "

"I'm serious!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from House Home - Silver Trees
> 
> thanks to jadedsunshine for the idea of what to name the turtle :D


	17. just remind me now of what you give to me // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a particularly hot night, Lauren cools off with some help from Mia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day seventeen: hold on
> 
> rating change ;)
> 
>  **chapter-specific warnings:** sexual content. it's not even implied. it's just there. and light bondage? i guess? there's a blindfold.
> 
> takes place during august 2014

Breathing out a frustrated but quiet moan, Lauren kicks one of her legs out and tries to untangle her feet from the bedsheet. They hadn't thought about how hot the room would be -- or would  _ get _ \-- and the ceiling fan is already going at full power and it's still not  _ enough. _

"Maybe the bed wasn't a good idea," she whines as Mia presses a searing hot kiss to the inside of her thigh. Lauren can't see because of the blindfold over her eyes -- her idea, surprisingly enough -- but she can feel Mia pull at the bedsheet and toss it to the ground. The cool air from the ceiling fan hits her ankles, but she can't appreciate it well enough from how hot she's burning.

"It would've been hot anywhere," Mia murmurs, calmly, kissing closer but not close  _ enough, _ and Lauren lets out another frustrated groan.

"The shower-- Mia, I  _ swear-- _ "

Her girlfriend just chuckles.

Lauren can hear the way Mia's breath hitches, though. They both want this, but whenever Mia has Lauren at her mercy, she just wants to take her  _ damn _ time. Mia keeps telling Lauren she should try it sometime, being the one who teases mercilessly, for once, but Lauren just doesn't have the heart to and she's always been a girl who  _ does _ and  _ does _ and  _ does. _

Besides, it's so satisfying to see how fast she can get Mia to start incoherently cursing.

Mia, on the other hand, is of the completely opposite school of thought. "Patience," she murmurs, shifting. The moment Mia's hands are off of her and she feels her get off of the bed for a moment, Lauren loses track of where her girlfriend is, completely relying on hearing the sound of jeans unzipping and softly thudding on the floor.

Then, Mia climbs on top of her and takes one of her hands in her own, intertwining their fingers. Her free hand traces lines down Lauren's stomach, over the scars on her abdomen, a few that are actually battle-earned, this time, and down between her legs.

Her needy gasp is lost as Mia kisses her, gently, contrasting with the pressure between her thighs. Lauren curses under her breath, huffing as Mia smiles. She doesn't see it, but she can practically  _ sense _ it. "Stop enjoying this," she mutters, biting down on her lip to stop herself from groaning as Mia slips in another finger, "Oh,  _ fuck. _ "

"You know, we could've done the shower, but would you pay up for the extra water we'd be using?" Mia asks, smugly, "Or, you know, not using?"

Lauren hisses through her teeth as Mia punctuates her question with an abrupt curl of her fingers, "I hate you."

"Hm, I don't think you do." Mia briefly kisses her nose, and Lauren scrunches it, baffled at the polarizing duality.

"You're right, I don't." Lauren fumbles with her free hand, reaching out slowly until she feels Mia's shoulder and pulls her closer, leaning up into a soft kiss that's mostly Mia guiding her since she can't  _ see. _ "Now, if you don't  _ fuck _ me…" she groans in tone that's probably not as threatening as she wants it to be.

Mia leans over and whispers in her ear, "You're not really in a position to be giving me orders, Lauren."

She's burning, not just from the humidity of the night anymore, but from want and pleasure and  _ need. _ Her fire burns bright on its own, but there had always been something missing inside of her, something necessary, but Lauren could never put a name to it. As they move in sync, though, Mia's hand gripping hers and her other spelling out Lauren's certain end from desperation alone, she can feel it touching her insides. A lack of air means she burns out, ashes in the end.

" _ Mia, please, _ " she gasps, using her free hand to push the blindfold off of her eyes. The room is dark, only dimly lit by the open blinds, and the lights are off to conserve heat, but Lauren can see her girlfriend with startling clarity. She grips the back of Mia's neck and kisses her hard enough to bruise as Mia provides the oxygen to set her alight.

"Just hold on," Mia murmurs, quietly, against her lips.

Lauren doesn't apologize for her nails digging into Mia's skin or how her teeth harshly graze against Mia's lips, and she knows an apology isn't expected because Mia moves with just as much passion in response, pushing her into the mattress, fingers carrying her through as she writhes against the sheets in pleasure.

"Fuck," Lauren breathes, collapsing against the pillows, sweat sticking to her skin, a whimper escaping her throat as Mia pulls her hand away and smugly and slowly licks at her fingers, " _ Mia. _ "

"Yes?" her girlfriend asks, innocently, raising her eyebrows.

"Gimme a moment to…" Lauren trails off, holding a finger in the air as she stares at the ceiling, slightly alarmed by how filthy she feels, "Then, I'm gonna…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Taking You There - Broods


	18. talk some sense to me // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not Lauren's first fight with Mia, but it's possibly their worst one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day eighteen: tears
> 
> takes place during august 2014

"I'm not here to  _ fix _ you!"

It's a metaphorical slap across the face that has Lauren reeling, her brain short circuiting as she processes the mere idea.

The fight had been building all day, all week, even, with her getting stuck with closing shifts Sunday through Thursday and Mia feeling the stress of nights of Lauren falling dead asleep next to her on top of her last few semesters before graduation looming in the background. The heat of summer adds to it, too, not obviously but gradually. Fire burns, but too much oxygen makes it flare out of control.

She knows, theoretically, hypothetically, she knows. People can't just take and take and take, but the truth is, Lauren has never had someone taken from her before, and it's such a weird feeling to acknowledge that there's two ways this road goes. Maybe things would've been different had she grown up with someone else close to her age like Jayden, instead of by herself. Her relationship with her mentor hadn't exactly been a two-way street, and that's the source of the problem. She's so used to authority -- so used to being  _ trained _ to  _ be _ authority -- that there's a disconnect between being a samurai and just being… human.

Lauren slumps down onto the empty armchair in the living room, putting her head in her hands. When she looks up, Mia has taken the other armchair, holding Sam tightly in her lap and pushing its head aside so she can look at Lauren.

"I'm--" She almost starts apologizing but realizes she doesn't know the full extent of what she's apologizing for, and the look in Mia's eyes says she's still got something to say so she closes her mouth and lets her girlfriend continue.

"I know you're… You've been through a lot," Mia says, quietly, "And I'm glad that I can help you heal and move forward from that and that we're  _ together, _ but, God, sometimes… sometimes, it feels like it's taking everything I  _ have _ to keep you in one piece."

Closing her eyes, Lauren sighs, heavily, the weight of the truth bearing down on her heart. She cries, but she doesn't mean to, silently wiping the tears away with the sleeve of sweater that she realizes too late is actually Mia's. Her tears aren't meant to be another symptom of her trying to play the victim or getting Mia to pity her or--

"You're thinking really loudly," Mia murmurs into Sam's plush shell, not looking at Lauren.

"I'm sorry," Lauren answers, her voice wavering, not looking at her girlfriend, either, "For thinking loudly. And… and for draining you over and over again and taking you for granted. I--" She stops, suddenly, the words on the tip of her tongue, but she doesn't want to say them. Not yet. It would be wrong to say them right now and have this be their first time.

Mia hears it, though, unspoken in the air, and her gaze snaps up to meet Lauren's.

Lauren swallows and doesn't finish her sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from I Found - Amber Run


	19. can you love me most // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tension from her fight with Mia still lingers, and Lauren decides to gently crack it apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day nineteen: pick a prompt - i went with a previous year's prompt of "hands"
> 
> takes place in september 2014 as a continuation of prompt 18

The weeks after their fight, which Lauren wouldn't even consider a fight since it doesn't have all the  _ indicators _ that she's used to from movies and television of a fight, are the hardest to live through. The worst part, she thinks, is that virtually nothing changes. Mia doesn't ask her to leave, and she doesn't have to spend her nights on Jayden's couch as she had expected. Nothing changes in that she and Mia still talk when they both end their day over dinner, no matter how late Lauren gets home from work, and it's the sheer normalcy that bothers her so much. She expects anger, but Mia is just tired, and that breaks her heart more than any raised voice could.

They still move through life normally. On a Friday night near the end of August, they go see Guardians of the Galaxy together, and on the way home, when Lauren asks what all the references to Kevin Bacon were about, Mia almost slams on the brakes then gasps, entirely offended.

It's  _ so _ normal that Lauren almost forgets that they haven't fully gone back to the way they were before. Not that she would  _ want _ them to go back to the way they were before because  _ before _ meant her naivete and her unawareness of how much she was wearing Mia out. But, before, figuratively.

They go home, Mia promises to show Lauren something called Footloose the next day, and then they go to sleep, laying next to each other, Mia's arm draped across Lauren's waist as usual.

That's it.

And that's the way it should be.

Mia needs space. Not  _ from _ her, but just from the way they had been together. Lauren knows without asking that if she were to leave and give Mia  _ physical _ space, it'd end up hurting both of them more than words could express. She'd already done that to Mia once before, and change meant not repeating her past mistakes.

The next night, she and Mia cuddle on the couch and watch Footloose. Mia's arm is around her shoulder, fingers playing with strands of her hair every few minutes, and Lauren wants to desperately lean her head on Mia's chest, but she isn't sure if she can or should.

When the movie is over and Lauren finally gets the scene about Kevin Bacon, Mia grabs the remote and says, offhandedly, "It's no Grease, but…"

"What's Grease?"

"Oh, Jesus Christ," her girlfriend sighs.

They watch Grease, too.

Right before the last musical number, Mia grabs her hand and pulls her up, grinning, "Come on, you gotta dance to this!"

"I-- I don't dance," Lauren protests, pouting, but she lets herself get roped in, anyway. "Oh, man, Sandy's really hot," she mumbles, distracted by the TV while Mia tries to twirl her.

"Hey," Mia says, raising her eyebrows and tilting Lauren's face toward her, "Eyes here."

Her ears burn, and she trips a little, blushing, trying to keep up with Mia leading her in a random assortment of the same three dance moves repeated over and over again. The credits roll in the background, and she's slightly winded, running a hand through her hair and sighing.

Mia just gazes at her, smiles slightly.

Lauren reaches for one of her hands and holds it in her own, playing fondly with Mia's fingers, just touching her. She takes it as a good sign that Mia hasn't yanked her hand away yet. Bringing Mia's hand up to her lips, Lauren kisses each one of her girlfriend's fingertips, her smile growing wider the harder Mia bashfully looks away and stares at the TV.

"I'm sorry," she says, firmly, making sure her voice isn't a scared whisper, barely audible over the TV, even though she wants it to be.

Mia exhales and gives Lauren's hand a soft squeeze, "I forgive you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Someone to Stay - Vancouver Sleep Clinic


	20. some things aren't meant to be // lauren & charlie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren will never know how close she came to looking fate in the eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day twenty: children
> 
> wOW another ranger cameo besides mia? amazing
> 
> set during september 2014

A family comes into the restaurant. It's nothing special, dinner rush, a couple and their kid. The girl is young, probably anywhere from ten to her preteen years, and has dark brown hair that's pulled into a neat ponytail. Lauren can't really tell since, well, she hasn't spent most of her life around kids. She puts on her best smile, though, because she makes an extra effort to be as fakely radiant as she can be when waiting on families with children, even if she doesn't feel like it that day. It's just… something Lauren knows she would've wanted, so she does it, anyway.

The girl gets a kids' menu, so Lauren figures she's under thirteen.

"Hey," Lauren says, greeting the family and pulling her notepad out of her apron, "How's everyone doing? What's your name?"

"Charlie," the girl answers, not really looking at Lauren but more at her menu.

Lauren chalks it up to kids being shy. She takes the orders of the parents and then Charlie's order through her mom and heads for the kitchen to run it through. The thing is she has other tables that night because it's dinner rush and it's busy and so many other little details that she doesn't notice the littlest one of them all, but why should she? Lauren doesn't know this kid and doesn't have any reason to pay special attention to her. She brings their orders out after some time and periodically checks in on them.

"Everything's good to go?" Lauren asks on her first passing after serving the family. She sees that Charlie's hand is trembling as she twirls spaghetti onto her fork, "Are you a little cold? I can get you a jacket." She has one draped over a chair in the back, red, but she'd be willing to part with it for a good cause. It seems important.

"It's okay," the father says, reassuringly, taking off his jacket, "She's got one. Thank you for offering, though."

It's not.

Lauren forgets about it, quickly, and not once between dropping off the family's check and going home that night does she think about the fact that the girl didn't smile once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Hello My Old Heart - The Oh Hellos
> 
> this is def shorter but is like... all i could come up w/ for this prompt and yes that's charlie from SPD aka, for those who haven't watched, future evil red :)


	21. i'll spend my days learning to breathe // lauren & team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A night of laser tag brings the Samurai team -- and Lauren and fate again -- together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day twenty-one: games
> 
> set during october 2014

In the dark, Lauren can hardly see anything but the faint glow of the blacklight hitting the walls. The bulky vest over her shirt pulses faintly with a red light, and she turns the corner, holding her plastic blaster steadily, spotting someone else, but when she gets closer and they both point their blasters at each other, she breathes out a sigh of relief. It's just Kevin.

"Hey," she whispers, not that there's any point in doing that. If anyone from the other team was close enough to eavesdrop, she would've shot them already. "Where are the others?"

"Flanking," Kevin answers, "Or trying to. Blue team's holed up in the tower in the middle. They can see us coming if we're not careful."

Lauren nods and lets Kevin take the lead, sticking close to the higher walls to avoid being seen. The faint outline of the tower in the middle of the arena is visible if she peeks up to look, but she decides not to chance that too frequently. She had gotten a brief glimpse of the blue team while they were all suiting up beforehand. Teenage boys, some of them wearing high school shirts, but she isn't fast enough to catch the name of their school. Regardless, she's sure that a group of teenage boys have spent many hours more than her playing laser tag,  _ but _ a group of teenage boys are most definitely  _ not _ a team of trained samurai.

It feels a little like cheating, kind of, but Lauren tells herself it's okay when the seven of them sneak up the tower and ambush the boys crowded together at the top, surprising them so much that one of them yells and almost falls over the railing. Lauren grabs his arm faster than any of his friends can and yanks him back. Then shoots his vest, grinning smugly. 

With all of the blue team's vests deactivated, the lights to the arena switch back on, and everyone groans and shields their eyes. Lauren lets go of the boy's vest. He frowns. "I don't know whether to thank you or be frustrated," he says, lightly.

She chuckles, "Why not both?"

Everyone heads back to the prep room, hanging their vests and blasters back up and checking out the scoreboard. Not that Lauren really cares about the rankings or winning. She's just glad that she's here, spending time with her team. Jayden pulls her into a hug and blows a raspberry onto her cheek; she rolls her eyes, exasperatedly, but doesn't push him away.  _ Their _ team.

Back in the main area, as his friends run off to grab some ice cream, the boy Lauren had saved goes up to them. "Hey, good game," he says with a small smile, holding out his hand a little awkwardly for a high five. Lauren and Jayden naturally stand in the front of the group, so they glance at each other. 

She takes the high five. "Thanks," she says, returning his smile, "You guys didn't do so badly yourself."

The boy makes a  _ ehhhh _ sound and shakes his head, laughing, "You don't have to sugarcoat it. We sucked." He jerks a thumb over his shoulder at his friends, "We all just made the football team, so we decided to celebrate, but…"

"You don't know how to work as a team yet?" Mia asks, casually raising her eyebrows at Lauren but speaking to the boy. Lauren clears her throat.

"Yeah," the boy answers, shrugging, "We'll get there, though." He plays with the collar of his t-shirt. Up close, Lauren can read it clearly now:  _ Angel Grove High Junior Varsity. _

"Go Tigers," she says, "Congrats."

"What?" he glances down at his shirt as if remembering that that's the one he's wearing, "Oh, yeah, thanks."

"Jason!" One of his friends beckons him over, "If you don't get over here, David says he's gonna eat your ice cream!"

"Ah, that's me," Jason says, waving goodbye to Lauren and the others, "Hope you guys have a good night."

"Yeah, you, too," Lauren replies, keeping her eyes on him for a moment as he walks away. There's something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. 

Nevermind. She turns to Jayden, who's fidgeting with his engagement ring and glancing in such a disgustingly cute manner at Antonio, "Alright, team, night's hardly half over… How else can we celebrate this  _ joyous _ occasion?"

Mike raises his eyebrows and holds a hand to his chest, "Lauren  _ wants _ to have fun? Quick, Em, alert the media!"

Emily elbows Mike in the side and winks at Lauren, "Got your back."

Lauren chuckles and sighs, contentedly, as Mia cuddles up next to her, slipping a hand into hers. "I  _ do _ like having fun," she says, rolling her eyes at Mike, "Especially when it's with you guys."

"Oh, babe, that's so gross," Mia teases.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Flicker - Canyon City
> 
> i didn't include jason in the title bc this is more of like a Team scene but he's ending up in the tags


	22. and the world will turn and we'll grow // lauren & team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home has never been a permanent place for her, but Blue Bay Harbor is somewhere on that list of options.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day twenty-two: wardrobe
> 
> takes place during october 2014

It's not quite a fair fight, really. The odds are six against one, and there's no weapons. Lauren can fight without a weapon, of course, but she's used to the weight of a katana in her hands. Sometimes, she heads to Blue Bay and asks Mia to come along. After all, Mia would never pass up on an opportunity to train and spar with Cam. But, today, Lauren just wants to be alone for a little bit. Luckily, when she had teleported over, she had caught all six ninjas free for the afternoon.

"More like unlucky," Dustin had joked, and then Lauren had made sure he was the first she knocked over on the mat.

"You know," Tori says, breathily, jabbing at Lauren's face, which she blocks, "We could take this outside, where there's more space." She brings her knee up. Lauren reacts too clumsily, having to block both fronts, but manages, frowning at she takes a few steps back. Tori looks smug.

"I'm fine in here," Lauren responds. The room is big enough -- a traditionally-sized sparring area. Outside, the ninjas have their trees, and she's not going to go through a repeat of the total loss she and Mia experienced last time.

Hunter and Blake try to catch her off-guard from both side. She ducks a kick aimed for her head then dives over another meant to send her sprawling. No powers, no weapons. Lauren is seriously out of her element, but she's stubborn and  _ loves _ taking on more than she can handle. Six ninjas isn't like fighting a crowd of Nighlok that she can just cut down with her sword. They're  _ all _ senseis, more experienced than her, even if the guys hardly act like it half of the time. She has had her life of training, but so have they.

It's not about winning, though, it's about learning.

Lauren loses track of who's on which front as she just focuses on blocking and dodging, trying to get a hit in where she can, but it's rough. If she lunges for Tori, Shane blocks her and then Dustin drives her back. And it repeats in every variation.

Maybe, one day, she'll call Mia and everyone, and they'll all go wild. It'd be a sight to see.

Cam yanks her into a chokehold, and Tori grabs at her ankles, grinning as Lauren tries to kick her. Lauren sighs. She knows when she's beat. Sometimes. She taps Cam's arm, and he lets her go, helping her up to her feet.

"Good match," Blake says, clapping her on the shoulder.

She huffs, "Sure, sure."

"You've got mad guts going up against all of us, though," Dustin exclaims, giving her two thumbs up, "You were great."

"Next time, make it with powers and we'll see who's left standing," she challenges, raising her eyebrows, and Dustin takes a step behind Tori.

"Hey, so, since you're here," Shane says, going over to where his backpack is in the corner of the room, "Last time, we were all talking about how you hang around here a lot, and that training uniform isn't  _ super _ flattering…"

Lauren glances down at the plain white and gray garb they always give her to wear when she drops by for a match or two. It's simple like her own training kimono, but she's in ninja territory, so she wears what they provide her with. Plus, her kimono isn't exactly cut out for fighting like a ninja.

"We thought you could use an upgrade," Tori says, smiling, as Shane walks back over and holds out a folded uniform in his hands.

It's black and sleek with red accents. Lauren furrows her brow and takes it, unfolding it and holding it up to her body. It's a student uniform that she's seen the members of the academy wear, and normally where she sees the crest of the Wind Ninja Academy in the top left of the chest is the bold Shiba family crest. She blinks then gapes at the six, all dumbly grinning at her. "I-- I can't take this," Lauren sputters, trying to give it back to Shane, but he presses the outfit insistently into her hands, "I'm not--"

"You're not…?" Tori raises her eyebrows, waiting.

"I'm not a ninja," she finishes, her voice trembling a little. Wow, if Lauren starts crying in front of them, she's going to sink into the ground. Maybe Dustin could help her with that.

"So?" Cam shrugs, "Neither I am, kinda, technically. It's semantics."

" _ Samurai _ and  _ ninja _ are more than semantics," Lauren says, a little chidingly.

Blake nods, "Sure, but that's not the world we live in anymore."

Lauren sighs. He's right, but she grew up with tradition and it's dictated her life more than she would've liked it to.

Shane gives her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, "You're an honorary ninja to us. Doesn't have to mean that you stop being a samurai."

Right. Lauren looks at the uniform in her hands and bundles it up, holding it close to her chest. She could be both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Incomplete - James Bay


	23. this is my best for you // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She'll never forget the day she realized it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day twenty-three: roses (originally "roses" was day 28 but i changed it for narrative purposes)
> 
> takes place in november 2014

In the future, when someone will inevitably ask her when she knew, Lauren will have the surest, most certain answer she's ever had in her life.

November 15th, 2014 in a Barnes & Noble, next to the stationery and journals aisle.

She and Mia are spending a relaxing day at the mall, a few weeks before they're due at the annual Ranger Reunion. Lauren's second overall and her first since getting together with Mia after, well, what'd happened last year.

Mia is looking at a bunch of journals, concentration on her face, her brow pinched, lips pursed. She runs her fingers along the covers of a few of the journals, testing out the texture, and plucks one off of the shelf, a floral print of roses on its cover. Mia opens it and flips through the pages, feeling the corners between her thumb and forefinger.

That's it, Lauren realizes with a quiet start. There's nothing more to it then that. the two of them, standing in a bookstore together on a quiet Saturday afternoon, the smell of fragrant coffee and fresh, new books in the air. Mia's hair down, over her shoulders, but a pink pin keeps her bangs from falling into her eyes. Her red tank top isn't even hers, but Lauren thinks she looks better in it, anyway.

God, she wants to  _ marry _ this girl.

Lauren leans her head against the bookshelf, putting her weight on it, and just sighs, feeling the weight of her life slip off of her shoulders. None of it matters now that she  _ knows. _

"Do I have something on my face?" Mia murmurs without glancing at her.

"My eyes," Lauren replies.

"Disgusting," her girlfriend says but blushes all the same.

Lauren breathes in. "I love you."

Mia pauses, looking up to meet her gaze. There's a moment of silence where her eyes are searching Lauren's face, asking the silent question of if that was something she  _ did _ mean to say. Then, she breathes out, "I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Oh My Love - Silver Trees


	24. i step back just to frame it // lauren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren's second Ranger Reunion goes infinitely better than her first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day twenty-four: weather
> 
> takes place during november 2014

It snows in San Angeles during the week of Thanksgiving. Well, not really, but there's some magic involved and Lauren's pretty sure that Mia might help out a little bit since that's sort of her element but not quite, but, anyway, there's snow. It's not snow from the sky, but it's from Ranger powers and only the people crowded into the land the Hartford Mansion sits on can see it. Because, once again, Ranger powers, and, of course, the invisible force field that the Mystic Rangers cast every year so that some hiker doesn't unwittingly stumble upon the superhero party of the year.

It snows, so, naturally, there  _ has _ to be a snowball fight, which ends up being a chaotic mess because it becomes every team for themselves and, sometimes, there's even internal betrayal and, at one point, Tommy lifts Kimberly over his shoulder and runs across the backyard yelling because she'd been pelting his students and she shouts something about disloyalty.

Lauren ducks down as a snowball goes flying at her head. Poor Gia gets hit instead and whirls around, not finding Max, who had already gone running, but rather Lauren in her sights.

"Oh, shit," Lauren mutters then bolts as Gia chases after her, "It wasn't me, I swear!"

Some of the Rangers don't like participating in the snowball war.

Lauren feels bad for Mia and Trent as she barrels right into her girlfriend's half-finished snowman, failing to stop in time and hiding behind Mia. "Babe, help," she pants, "Gia wants to kill me, and I didn't do anything."

Gia skids to a stop, frowning.

Mia glances between the two blondes then grabs Lauren by the jacket sleeve and throws her to the wolves. Well, tiger. “Have fun!” she chirps.

“Mia!”

“You ruined our snowman!” Trent pouts.

Gia stares pointedly at Lauren, “That’s unforgivable.”

“Is it  _ really? _ ” she asks.

Gia pelts her with a snowball then holds her still as Mia shoves a pile of snow down her jacket.

Lauren screams, “Holy shit, that’s cold!”

Mia gives her a chilly kiss on the cheek and smiles, “ _ Now _ you’re forgiven.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Heart Attack - Wild Rivers


	25. we are bound to each other's hearts // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the flowers come back into bloom at the Shiba house, Lauren proposes to Mia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day twenty-five: garden
> 
> set during march 2016 (i know this skipped like an entire year but u kno it's whatever)

The cherry blossoms trees Ji had planted in the front yard of the Shiba house bloom in late March. Lauren lures Mia there on the pretense of the team getting together for lunch, which is easy enough, however Mia insists on cooking, so she has to frantically text  _ someone _ responsible who Mia will listen to and get them to convince her girlfriend not to cook. Lauren needs the extra time to prepare and make sure everything is perfect or, at least, worthy of surprising her girlfriend with.

She enlists Kevin's help because Kevin isn't as close to her as Jayden is. They're  _ all _ closer-ish by this point, but she knows Mia would suspect if Jayden were the one to lure her away. It's the brother-sister thing that gives it away. So, Kevin gets Mia away from the apartment and the Shiba house for the day, and Jayden picks Lauren up.

They've talked about getting married before, sometimes casually and sometimes seriously. Once, it was Mia making a joke about being carried over the threshold every time Lauren picks her up and unceremoniously throws her onto their bed while rolling her eyes. Another time, Lauren had been caught browsing for rings on her laptop, so after that, she had switched to using her phone and pretending like she was reading. That had been a close one, especially since it put the question of  _ when _ on Mia's radar, and Lauren  _ desperately _ wanted to make sure the surprise wasn't ruined, especially when she'd… never really planned any surprises before in her life. Birthday parties for Mia didn't count. Everyone else on the team planned them for her and then showed up at the apartment with pink balloons in tow, and Lauren would open the door, blink, and let them all in.

But, they've talked about it. She knows that Mia's ready -- has  _ been _ ready -- and, truthfully, Lauren has been kind of ready for awhile, too. It's been a long road of psyching herself up since the moment she  _ realized _ over a year ago. Not a question of if she was sure, but a question of when it was right, when they were ready, financially and emotionally and physically.

Spring is a season for new life, and she's ready to begin one with the love of hers.

The whole team helps her sans Kevin since he's still stalling Mia, hopefully efficiently and not in a way that she finds suspicious. The timing is perfect as the sun gives way to the moon, and the stars faintly twinkle in the sky. The front yard is brightly illuminated with hanging lanterns and softly flickering candles on the table they've pulled out. Lauren cooks dinner because it's a  _ special _ occasion, and even though the others -- but mostly Antonio -- help her, it's  _ her _ love that's being poured into every minute and every motion. When everything is all set up, she's tired and weary and barely manages to find the energy to shower, dry her hair, and get dressed before Kevin brings Mia through the gates.

Lauren fidgets with the button on her blazer as she hears Mia's car pull up the driveway. Jayden nudges her in the side and whispers, reassuringly, "You'll be fine."

"I hope so," she sighs.

Mia walks in through the gate, sees Lauren, and  _ gets _ it. She's just in the pink sundress she left in this morning, but Lauren thinks she looks beautiful, anyway, and tells her just that. Mia starts tearing up as Lauren takes her hand.

"Hi," she says, a little dumbly.

Mia chuckles and wipes away a tear, "Hi."

Lauren is hyperaware of Jayden quietly walking over to an angle where he can film them with her phone and his as well, but she forces herself to focus on Mia. "I, uh, I had this whole speech planned out, but I…"

Mia smiles at her, encouraging as always.

"I'm speechless like I always am," Lauren says, biting her lower lip, and briefly glances down at their linked hands, her ears heating up, "I was speechless from the moment I met you, and with every passing day, you just continue to amaze me, and I keep realizing over and over that I could… I could read all the books in the world and learn every language there is to learn, but all of that would still not be enough. You're the one for me, and I want it to be us against the world together forever. I've, um, I've known for a long time that I wanted to do this, really. It was, uh… we were in that Barnes & Noble a couple of weeks before the reunion in 2014 and you were looking at some journals and…"

"You knew," Mia whispers, sniffling.

"I knew," Lauren says with a nod, tears welling up in her own eyes, "I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, so, um, Mia Watanabe…" She lets go of Mia's hands and pulls the ring box out of her pocket and lowers herself onto one knee, letting all of her vulnerability go. This is her heart, on display, and Mia has the key. "Will you marry me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Wildfire - Seafret
> 
> if you've read legacy, u know they're engaged so yeah but i wanted to end it on a "button" of sorts sorry for the feels


	26. don't trust your eyes now // lauren/mia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mia's nightmare bleeds over to Lauren one night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day twenty-six: dreaming
> 
> takes place in june 2016

She knows they're still not okay. It's been a long time. Years, even. Lauren can say that now. It's been  _ years _ since the Samurai Rangers defeated Xandred, years since they've all retired, but it still feels so fresh because of the Armada and the threat of another time when the world will need all the Power Rangers always looming in the background.

Healing takes time. It will probably take a good chunk of her life before Lauren can look in the mirror and say that she's let go of the crushing loneliness, desperation, and anger that used to haunt her every waking moment. Maybe even the rest of her life. It's definitely not a childhood she will ever get back, and that's just something she has to unfortunately live with.

She and Mia have both changed since they first got together, and she wouldn't have proposed to her girlfriend --  _ fiancée _ \-- if they hadn't grown with each other over the past few years. It takes time and there are good days and bad days for both of them, but sometimes, the bad days don't wait until they're ready for them.

Lauren wakes the moment she feels it. She hardly dreams and, even if she does, she hardly ever remembers her dreams, but Mia does. At first, she doesn't know why she just randomly wakes up in the middle of the night, but then, she feels the rough brush against her consciousness, startling her into tensing.

Next to her, Mia whimpers in her sleep and rolls over, almost taking the entire blanket with her.

Quietly sitting up, she feels it again. A little nudge that brings with it a twinge of fear. Her brow furrowing, Lauren whispers, hoping she can just wake her fiancée up easily, "Mia?"

Mia doesn't stir.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

"Mia, wake up," she whispers again, reaching over and gently placing a hand on Mia's arm. Lauren doesn't shake her, doesn't think that's the best idea to wake a sleeping person ever because, if anything, samurai reflexes upon waking can be deadly.

The first contact, though, jolts Mia awake immediately, and she bolts up with a start, blinking wildly at Lauren. "What-- oh, thank God, you're okay," Mia breathes out a soft sigh of relief.

Lauren raises her eyebrows, "Yeah? Why… why wouldn't I be okay?" She rubs small circles onto Mia's back as her fiancée runs a hand through her hair and hangs her head, tired.

"I just-- it was just a bad dream," Mia says, quietly, shifting closer to Lauren, who instinctively opens her arms and pulls her into a hug.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Lauren asks, "You don't have to, of course." She kisses the top of Mia's head. In reality, she doesn't have to ask. She knows. There's only so few things that Rangers ever dream about, and Lauren's nightmares are usually about the same thing that Mia's are, just slightly varied.

Mia shakes her head and rests it on Lauren's chest. "No," she murmurs, "I just want this."

"Alright." Lauren tightens her hold and gently strokes Mia's hair. At the end of the night, sometimes, that's all she can give.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Note to Self - Jake Scott


	27. but we are like broken instruments // lauren & rocky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As much as she would like to not be, Lauren is drawn to her duty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day twenty-seven: sunset
> 
> this and the next chapter are like a 2-parter that WILL spoil for ch14 and ch15 of legacy of power bc i'm posting these before i post those so... but i kept things pretty vague so it's not super duper spoilery if u care abt that
> 
> takes place in september 2016, during the events of legacy of power

Lauren surprises him after the sun has long set while he's standing in his driveway, packing bags into the trunk of his sedan. "Hey," she says, casually, and Rocky bangs his head on the trunk.

"Lauren--" He gapes at her then glances around, "Where'd you--"

She points at the back of his house, "Teleported."

He stares at her.

"Going somewhere?" she asks, nodding at his car and putting her hands in her pocket like it's casual, like this is casual, like they're not superheroes or something.

"Well," Rocky huffs, closing the trunk as he finishes, "I'm sure you heard the news."

"I have." Her notifications have pretty much been muted for the Ranger group chat on Skype, but important things still make her phone go off. And this… is pretty important.

Rocky shrugs, "There's a need for me, so I'm going."

Lauren nods, "Cool, cool." Then, she drops the other shoe, the reason why she's here, "I'm coming with you."

Stopping on his way back inside, Rocky turns around and raises his eyebrows at her, "You're gonna what?"

She shrugs like it's nothing. "I'm coming with you," she repeats.

"It's… better to have fewer Rangers in the city," Rocky starts, slowly, and she can see him try to deter her in the look in his eyes, but she can also see that he knows his attempts are futile, "I think four's a good, round number. You know, besides the kids."

"Sure, that's fair," Lauren says in a light tone that betrays how much she _isn't_ going to budge on this, "But all of your bases aren't covered. You're putting yourself in the school, but you need someone on the _inside_ inside. I can make that happen."

He looks at her in disbelief.

"Cam and Hayley can help me make it happen," she amends.

"You're really not gonna let this go, are you?"

Lauren chuckles, "What can I say? I'm a Red."

Rocky shakes his head and puts his hands on his hips in a sort-of-but-failing stern, disapproving dad manner, "Alright, and what're you gonna tell Mia, then? She's gonna wanna come along if she knows you're getting involved."

She doesn't say anything, but her sigh and glance at the ground tell Rocky everything he needs to know.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning," he says, finally relenting, "Five sharp. It takes about an hour to get to Angel Grove, and I wanna get there before the school day starts."

"Five sharp," she repeats, nodding, "I'll go get packed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from No Care - Daughter


	28. i just feel better at sea // lauren & cam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lauren leaves for Angel Grove.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt day twenty-eight: power (originally "power" was day 23 but i changed it for narrative purposes)
> 
> once again, this and the previous chapter are a 2-parter that WILL spoil for ch14 and ch15 of legacy of power but i kept things pretty vague so it's not super duper spoilery if u care abt that
> 
> takes place in september 2016, during the events of legacy of power

Lauren flips through the pages of a book as Cam works away at his desk in what used to be Ninja Ops. And, technically, still is. She had tried watching him work while he and Hayley chatted over video, but she'd gotten lost very early on since technology most definitely isn't her thing. Reading, however, is.

"Mountain of Lost Ninjas," she muses, her eyes traveling down the page, "I've heard that before."

"Yeah," Cam says from across the room, "One of the others probably mentioned it. Getting there isn't the best road trip ever. And, speaking of road trips…"

Lauren glances up, anticipating his question. It's the only one worth asking, really, which should mean something to her, but she's such a stubborn Red.

"What are you gonna tell Mia? Or, well, what  _ did _ you already tell her?"

"That I needed some alone time," she answers, simply.

"And you can live with that?"

Lauren swallows then tries to shrug as casually as she can. "I've had to live with a lot of things," is her response as she goes back to reading.

Cam doesn't want to gloss over it, but he does, anyway, and sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Okay, well, what if she asks  _ me _ if I know where you were?"

"And she'd ask you… why?"

"Because I'm her cousin and she knows you like to come here pretty much whenever you want."

It only takes Lauren a moment to figure out a proper enough answer. It's not a good one, but she isn't claiming it is. "Just tell her you don't know and direct her to me."

Cam looks at her, incredulously, "You want me to lie to her?"

"You're a ninja, aren't you?"

"It's like you selectively put me in one box or another when it suits you," Cam drawls, rolling his eyes.

"Just say you can't give her an answer," Lauren shrugs, "She won't ask."

"You sound so sure."

Lauren hums, flipping to another page, "Yeah, because I won't be long."

Another hour passes, and Lauren has made it near to the end of the book she's reading and she feels like she knows too much of ninja personal customs and traditions that it feels somewhat too intimate. Cam finally clears his throat and gets up from his desk, walking over to where she's perched on the railing of the alcove next to the bookshelves. He nudges one of her dangling legs, and she playfully kicks him. "Here," he sighs, presenting her with a small, metal box, "This is everything you'll need."

Lauren takes it and unclasps the locks. Inside is an earpiece and what she assumes to be its corresponding microphone, a little round thing that, upon further inspection, might be a camera, a pair of sunglasses, and… Lauren holds up the gold badge and waves it at Cam, "Is this real?"

"It's not plastic, if that's what you mean," he deadpans.

She weighs it in her hand. "Feels real enough," she observes, "But is it  _ real _ real? Because isn't that a felony or something? Impersonating a federal agent?"

Cam blinks and shakes his head, "Why are you here?"

Because she wants to impersonate a federal agent. "Did you get permission to have this? I know Rangers have done stuff with NASADA, but I don't… know how long ago that was."

"I got permission," Cam answers, nodding.

"From the government?"

"I got permission," he repeats, flatly.

"Right, okay." Lauren sticks the badge back in the box and closes it. "Thanks for the help." She gives him a confident grin then hops down from the railing and tucks the box under her arm as she pulls her Samuraizer out.

The room fills with a soft red glow as Lauren draws the teleport kanji in the air.

Cam sighs, "Be careful."

Lauren scoffs as she finishes the last brushstroke, raising her hand to activate it, "Aren't I always?"

"Don't say that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Lighthouse - Silver Trees
> 
> if u wanna listen to lauren's playlist that's made up of all the songs from this fic, u can find it here (shuffle recommended): https://open.spotify.com/user/gallifreyians/playlist/7vqEEMR6yTWmIZl8wEsahd?si=xszVePzTRXKvVvlT-6dQTQ
> 
> i can't BELIEVE i wrote like 14 whole prompts in 2 whole days lmao wow


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